


Your Touch

by LightBloom



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 47,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24178918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightBloom/pseuds/LightBloom
Summary: Yona had the perfect two-step plan. Get back into school and move in with Soo-Won. It's the start of the year and one of the steps falls through. So naturally, what's a girl to do except move into a house with her friend and 4 other boys, all while avoiding Hak's questions?Denial and avoidance are healthy behaviors, right?
Relationships: Son Hak/Yona
Comments: 57
Kudos: 232





	1. Move In Day

To her credit, this was originally a stellar plan, had it not been for the one essential piece that didn't quite fit into place--Soo-Won did not actually want to live with her. 

At least she was temporarily being spared the embarrassment and pity of other people, sitting on the side of the street with her few select belongings like a piece of discarded furniture. Even the tears that continued to threaten to spill over again and her raw puffy eyes could be blamed on bittersweet goodbyes. No one really needed to know she was actually the equal (possibly even worse off) to her side street tossed belongings. The more and more she thought about her pitiful belongings--which basically amounted to her backpack and two hastily stuffed gym bags--the more the tears threatened to overwhelm her over and over again. Instead, she focused on mindlessly counting the blades of grass that tickled her ankles until two sharp honks of a car horn interrupted her thoughts. Hastily wiping the corners of her eyes with her wrist, she hurried in an attempt at slinging her few bags over her shoulder, only to launch one straight over her back and into the street. An open bag with no clasps or closures, her toiletries began slowly rolling out onto the gently sloped hill. 

"Shit--" 

"Yona, I've got it. Just get in the car," called Yoon from the other side of the blue hatchback. The car's incessant beeping could be heard from the open door, a complaint that the car was still running. 

Yona hesitated, remaining bags slipping down her shoulder. Yoon glared at her from over the top of his car before kneeling down to collect her things. "Seriously Yona, I'm not parked legally here and I can't justify staying there for too long. I'll get your stuff so just get in. We'll talk after I find somewhere to park."

She nodded quietly. Throwing her bags into the backseat, she shuffled into the seat before closing the door. Yoon followed suit soon after, quickly taking the car out of the (illegal) parking spot and back onto the street. As he drove off just a bit too quickly, Yona debated on whether or not she should mention that he'd neglected to put on his seatbelt. Noting her gaze as he looked left to check for traffic, he sighed. 

"I'm only going down the street to the park and ride, I promise. I'm not that stupid."

She hummed softly in response, turning to look out the window instead. As they approached the park & ride lot, Yoon quickly found a spot and all but skidded into it. Passerbys walking the trail stared at them in disbelief but continued on with their day. Shutting the engine down, he set his hands on the wheel before slowly inhaling from his mouth and exhaling through his nose. 

"Alright. We're good. What happened?"

The tears that had been welling up since she'd sat on the curb spilled over with the words that gushed from her mouth. For what seemed like ages she talked, Yoon listening patiently from his seat. The emotions she'd been bottling up since early morning were eating at every piece of her and after a few minutes she found herself too emotional to continue, her throat too tight to breathe and speak. Yoon tightened and untightened his grip around the steering wheel, a temporary stress ball to process what he'd been told. Taking one last deep breath, he let go on the wheel.

"So then. That's that. And then you called me.."

"Yeah…" she whispered softly. "I...I have nowhere Yoon. I don't have any money, I don't have anyone to stay with, I don't know what to do ."

"Yona, I'm sorry if I'm missing something here but why haven't you called Hak yet?"

"I can't!" She wailed, burying her face into the palms of her hands. "He'll be _so_ upset. I can't tell him right now, I just can't."

"He'll be more upset if you wait to tell him anything!"

"Yoon please" she pleaded. "I just can't. Not yet, not now. I just need somewhere to stay until I have a plan. I can't tell Hak anything until I have a plan."

Yoon glared at her half heartfelt, not the slightest bit convinced. Still, he nodded his agreement before turning the key to the engine again. The car shook as it warmed up, the rumbling of the motor the only sound between them. 

"I'm going to take you home with me," he began carefully, picking words one at a time in an attempt to lessen the frustration in his voice. "But you have to understand that it's going to be temporary and it's going to be really awkward at first."

Yona shook her head furiously, trying to force her feelings back into her chest where they belonged. 

"I don't think you remember, but I moved. I don't live with Ik-Soo anymore, I live in a house with a group of guys. We aren't even friends and I haven't even met all of them yet." Yoon grimaced at the thought of presenting some sobbing girl to a bunch of strangers. It was going to be the worst first impression of his life. "It's not a frat house or anything like that, it's just…rent's cheap and I just started my med program, you know? I really think you'd be more comfortable going to Hak's place for a while."

"He's going to be so upset," Yona mumbled, ashamed of how much Yoon would have to deal with on her behalf. "I just need time to come up with a plan. Then I'll get out your hair, I swear."

"I told you I'm bringing you home with me," Yoon grumbled, looking back in order to pull out of his parking spot. "You don't have to feel bad about getting displaced like this. It's not your fault your housing situation didn't work out."

The car smoothly joined the main road, bouncing slightly as they hit a speed bump. “I’m not going to lie though, I really only drove her because I thought you would have more stuff with you.” He peered over his shoulder to look at the few bags between them. “You seriously don’t have anything else? Not even a chair or a side table? Hell, I thought you’d at least have a blanket.”

“I...None of the stuff in that apartment is mine,” she mumbled, playing with the last button of her shirt. Giggle quietly, she continued staring out the window, watching happy students move into their perfect new homes. “It’s kind of funny. My whole life fits into three bags.”

Yoon shrugged, turning right before the end of the hill. Trees lined the street, towering warmly over the cars that sat on the side of the street. “I mean, you did have to sell everything in your dad’s house last year, it’s not that surprising. I’d feel worse if you only came with one bag, at least then I know you were forced out instead of choosing to lea--oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”

The blaring of the car horn startled her but not nearly as much as the stream of curses that flowed out of Yoon’s mouth as he rolled down his window. The people parked in front of the driveway jumped, nearly dropping the heavy dresser being carried out to three houses over. Scurrying to drop the furniture off in the grass, one person left the moving brigade and jumped into the car to back out. 

“Seriously,” he grumbled, watching impatiently as they moved their vehicle. “I get that this is the weekend everyone moves in before the semester starts, but you’d think people would be more considerate. Every street is blocked. It was a pain to get to you earlier and you were only up the hill.” 

“Sorry to make you drive, I wasn’t really thinking--”

“Don’t apologize.” Yoon ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. With the other car out of the driveway, he slowly pulled into his newest home. The rumble of the engine died out as he turned off the car and began exiting the vehicle. “You were upset. You are right to be upset. It’s not your fault. So don’t apologize.”

Yona shrank in her seat. “Okay.”

“Come on, get out. I’ll get your stuff if you open the doors. They should all be unlocked--some of the guys are still moving in today, but I moved in at the start of the month. I hate move-in weekend.”

The house was deceptively small, it’s deep green walls blending into the neighborhood and its sea of suburban trees. Stepping out of the car and into the wide driveway, Yona slowly realized the house went further back into the property than expected. Following Yoon’s lead, they walked up to the front porch, stepping past a few moving boxes that had been dropped off sometime before their own arrival. Opening the door and stepping inside, Yona peered around as she waited for Yoon to enter the house. A living room to her right, a bathroom to the left under the stairs, the kitchen buried somewhere in the back (she assumed)--tight spaces yet warm and inviting. 

“Your house is cute,” she said softly. “I’m glad you were able to find a place after leaving Ik-Soo’s.”

Yoon shrugged, sliding past her in the narrow hallway and towards the stairs. “It’s what was available on short notice--like I said, I don’t know all my roommates yet. I only came here because Ik-Soo saw it on my feed when I was house hunting and said ‘it gave him a good vibe’--whatever that means.”

He grunted as the bags continued hitting the walls on the journey upstairs. “Rent was cheap, I get my own room, and it’s close enough to campus that I don’t have to take the bus if I don’t want to. If that means I have to suck it up for a few years before I get into a residency program, I’ll take it. It’s not like I’ll be here most of the time anyway.”

Yona smiled, trailing behind him and onto the landing. Yoon motioned for her to open the first door on the right, closest to the stairs. “It’s my room,” he clarified. “You can stay here for now.”

Forcing one of the bags out of his hands, she stepped into the bedroom. His furniture had already been neatly arranged, a small table pressed neatly against his bed to accommodate his larger study desk. Two large bookcases took up the rest of the space, overflowing with books she knew he had read more than twice already. She dropped her bag on the study desk chair before collapsing onto his bed. “Thanks, Yoon. I appreciate this.”

He grunted in kind as he fell into the space beside her. “Yeah, I’ll wait to see if you’re still saying that after I tell the guys I brought a girl home when they weren’t even here. For all I know, they’ll want this to be a girl free zone.”

He rolled to his side, face propped up by his hand. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you want to move in with Soo-Won this year anyway?”

She froze. 

“I know you had a plan and all, but I don’t really get why you had to move in with him of all people. I would have moved in with you if you’d asked,” he mumbled, refusing to look in her direction. Not that it mattered--she had her gaze fixed firmly at the ceiling. “It just seems like you were avoiding something bigger here.”

She met his request with silence, focused completely on small chips of paint above them. Yoon sighed. “Fine. You can tell me when you’re ready. I just want to know how you’re doing. It’s only been a year since your dad died, you’re allowed to move in with whoever you want--”

“It’s not that.” Yoon peered up. Her gaze was still locked above them, refusing to meet him. “I just decided to move in with him, that’s all. It didn’t work out. I...misunderstood. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Yoon huffed, rising up to sit at the edge of the bed. “Well, if you don’t need me then, I’m going--”

“I didn’t say that.”

He looked back down. While she remained expressionless, the tears running down the side of her face betrayed her. “I didn’t say I don’t need you,” she said firmly. “So please, stay a while longer.”

A smile graced his features as he plopped back down, wrapping one arm around her and pulling her into a loose embrace. 

“Okay. Whatever you need.”

* * *

When she awoke, it was late. 

The sun no longer greeted her through the window, and the sound of students on the street was all but gone. Sitting up into a relaxing stretch, Yona looked around but Yoon was nowhere to be seen. Her bags now laid empty, shoved into a small cubby inside the open closet. Her clothes had been neatly placed on hangers or folded into different cubby--even her shoes had been removed at some point, placed by the door. She smiled. Yoon never changed--ever the mother hen. 

Slipping off the bed and towards the closet, she pulled out a thin sweater to combat the chill of the house. Yoon was probably making something to eat at this point, so it would be rude of her as the guest to not slip downstairs. Leaving the comfort of his room, Yona made her way down the creaky stairs and towards what she had assumed earlier was the kitchen to meet her childhood friend. Instead, she was met with a dining room full of boys, with Yoon seated at the end of the room. 

For a moment, no one spoke, exchanging shocked and confused looks. Then, the room erupted.

“I thought you said she was going to be coming here--”

“No, I said she was staying with me--”

“ _What?”_

“I really don’t really think it’s a problem--”

“No one cares what you think--”

“I really don’t want to be the moderator here--”

“I’m okay with her--”

“Shut up, we haven’t even talked about your pet rat yet--”

“Ignore him, we all know it’s a hamster.”

“Ao is a gerbil.”

Yona shuffled uncomfortably in the doorway, gaze jumping from one to the other. They didn’t _seem_ to notice her, just arguing about her--though barely. Slowly stepping into the dining room, she carefully took a seat at the attached dining room table, sliding into the empty space next to Yoon. The men abruptly stopped arguing, turning to face her, as if they had completely forgotten she was in the room.

“Hi,” she managed to squeak out weakly. “I’m Yona--I guess you already heard about me?”

Yoon nodded. “I was just telling them about you, which got sidetracked when _this_ idiot started to compare you being here to a rodent.”

One of the men jumped up to his feet, a reasonably surprising feat given that he was in a booth seat. “ _Excuse you_ , but when I agreed to live here, I did _not_ agree to share my living space with a household pest--”

“Ao is a gerbil,” repeated another guy, utterly calm in contrast to the minor meltdown on his right. Almost as if on cue, the aforementioned gerbil popped out of his hood. Carefully picking Ao out of his sweater, he placed the gerbil onto the table, much to the screeching horror of the previous man.

“I mean, he’s technically not wrong. Gerbils are rodents,” quipped the tallest of the men, casually leaning back in one of the few free chairs. The chair legs hovered precariously as he set his knees against the table to balance himself. “The only difference is you keep your rodent as a pet.”

“I thought he knew.”

“We were _study friends_ , how was I supposed to know you kept a rodent at home?”

“I talked about him.” 

“I thought Ao was a dog!”

“As you can see, the conversation hasn’t really gone anywhere,” Yoon said, extending an open hand to Ao. Scurrying across the table, Ao leapt into Yoon’s open hand to be transferred onto Yona’s shoulder. The small gerbil buried into her neck before nesting in her own hood. She giggled at the sensation. “The one pissing himself is Kija--I told you about him last year from camping out in the library during finals. The owner of this little furball is Shin-Ah--we took a Biology class together last year. I’m told that the tallest here is Jae-ha and the shortest is Zeno--which might be the best way to remember everyone honestly.”

“Ignoring the lovely rodent issue, we do have another topic at hand.” Jae-ha straightened his seat back into a safer position. “With whom do we have the pleasure of speaking with today? I hear you might be staying here with us for a while? How long do you plan to stay here, gracing us with your presence?”

“I take it back, he’s clearly a player. Don’t talk to him.”

“He’s right!” Kija blurted, momentarily forgetting about Ao. “Don’t trust him--a lovely young girl like yourself shouldn’t be staying anywhere near him! We should kick him out instead.”

“Just because I don’t have a personal issue with Ao doesn’t mean you can just kick me out Kija.”

“Perhaps we should ask the lady why she would like to stay?” piped in Zeno from the other end of the table, knees pressed up onto the bench and against his chest. Yona had a hard time not seeing him like a very comfortable kindergartner, curled into his oversized hoodie. It didn’t help he was just barely above her own stature. “She is waiting for us after all, miss…?”

“Yona,” she clarified. “My name is Yona. I’m sorry to impose on you like this but I ran into a housing issue this morning and I have nowhere else to stay in the meantime. I asked Yoon if I could room with him until I find a new place to stay if that’s alright with everyone here. I understand if you say no--I’m sure you weren’t expecting a 6th roommate.”

“It’s basically a budding fraternity at this point,” muttered Yoon beside her, letting Ao nibble on a raisin he’d procured from the trail mix snack bowl on the table. 

Zeno shrugged. “If she would like to stay, I have no problem with this.”

“Temporary is my style anyway,” Jae-ha agreed. “It’s all good by me.”

Shin-Ah nodded quietly. “Yona can stay.”

Kija however, flushed red instantly. “W-what are you saying? Are you missing the most important part? She’d be the only girl here! What about her room and sharing the bathroom?”

“Relax Kija, we all noticed she’s not a guy,” Jae-ha dismissed, scooping a handful of trail mix for himself. He popped cashew into his mouth. “I’m assuming Yoon will be letting her stay with him so he’ll figure out the details and we do have two bathrooms. Even if only one of them has a shower, we could figure out a temporary schedule. It’s not like all of us feel the need to be clean all the time.”

“S-s-so what is the plan? Where is she going to sleep?”

“It’s none of your business Kija. You’re overthinking this.” Yoon replied. “She’s my friend from high school. Everything will be fine. She’ll be out of our hair before you know it, right Yona?”

“Right.”

* * *

The rest of the night consisted of Yona and Yoon working out schedules, sleeping arrangements, and budgeting. They agreed to share the bed for the meantime until labs started up for Yoon, which would mean their schedules would no longer be synced and at least one person would be sleeping while the other was awake. Given that she was not on her now-old-apartment’s lease, she could save money while she hunted for a new living space. Everything would be fine, she would repeat continuously as they turned down the for the night. Everything would work out perfectly.

The morning after, however, seemed dead set on proving her wrong.

She awoke to Yoon gone for the day, way past her alarms, and three missed calls from Soo-won. Heart tightening in her chest, she swiped left to erase the notifications and shoved her phone into the bag next to the bed. Even if she wanted to listen to the voicemails, she needed to get going.

After shoving herself into pieces of her wardrobe at random, she all but sprinted down the stairs and out the door. The campus was technically a ten-minute walk, but it was entirely uphill and her first class was unfortunately in the middle of the layout, meaning it would take her another 10 minutes to arrive if she didn’t run the whole way there. Flying up the hill and across campus in record time, she somehow made it to class with one minute to spare. Her laptop wasn’t fully charged, her hair was a complete disaster, but at least she wasn’t bolting into class completely late. Before entering the lecture hall, she took a second to look at her reflection in the windowed hallway, attempting to fix her hair before sitting for a two-hour lecture. 

“Fixing your hair only helps if your hair was fixed at all.”

She screamed, immediately gaining the attention of everyone in the hallway. A bright shade of red blossomed across her face, matching the intensity of her hair. Hak’s smirk in his own reflection taunted her from behind. A thermos cup rested atop her head, held in place by his hand. “I knew you’d be late.”

“I am not late--”

“Yeah, sure. This is what people who are on time look like.”

She snatched the thermos from his hands, pressing it to her chest. “So you just decided to make an extra coffee this morning?”

“No, that one’s mine.” Hak leaned away from her, adjusting the backpack slung low on his shoulder. “It looks like you could use it more than me though, given--” he gestured loosely at her--” this hot mess.”

She huffed, storming past him and up to the highest seats in the lecture hall, far from where she knew he would sit. Sure enough, he strolled into the class right before the professor, taking a seat where his notebook had already been placed in the front. A single glance and smirk in her direction was the only sign that he’d noticed where she’d gone. She didn’t have a chance to react however, given that class had started. It wasn’t until class was dismissed for the day and her temper had died down slightly that she moved down to meet him, thermos extended as a peace offering.

Hak looked from the thermos to her, frowning. “You can’t use my own gift as a bribe, that’s just lazy.”

“Thanks anyway,” she replied curtly. “It should still be hot if you want some--I didn’t get through it all but I’ll probably forget it if I take it home to wash.”

“As if you’d wash it in the first place. If I remember correctly, I had to teach you how to run the washing machine last year.”

“I can wash a dish Hak--” she started hotly before realizing he was trying to get another rise out of her. Flustered but determined to keep her cool, she cleared her throat. “Anyways, just...thanks. I needed that.”

“I’m surprised Soo-Won didn’t make any this morning. Or did you just run out so late you didn’t bother to grab anything to eat?”

Yona flinched. Hak thankfully, didn’t notice, too wrapped up in shoving his thermos into a tiny side pocket that had been designed for coffee cups but clearly not his. While he struggled, she ran through potential answers before settling on--

“Yeah, that’s what happened. I just overslept, didn’t have time to grab anything.” The lie came easy when it wasn’t technically a lie. She did oversleep after all. She wondered if her best friend could hear the quivering at the end of her words, threatening the validity of her lie. 

“It was a rhetorical question,” Hak replied, giving up on his task and resorting to keeping the cup tucked safely in his own hand. He would just have to be careful about accidental spillage. “I could tell you were running late based on how untamed your hair is. Not that it’s really any different than usual.”

She ignored him this time--or as much as you could call an eye roll ignoring--turning to leave him alone in the room when he spoke again. 

“Breakfast then?”

“What?”

“Breakfast. The thing you haven’t eaten. We should go get some.”

“I have another class,” Yona complained, trying to ignore the loud growl of her stomach. Hak smiled knowingly, obviously having heard its complaints. 

“Shut up and follow me--you should at least get a granola bar to eat. And don’t try to slip away, you’re stuck with me.”

* * *

When she finally finished her classes for the day, the fall sun glistened off the bay as it set below the hill. She only caught a glimpse of it from the bus, crammed between the other students heading home for the day. Still, Yona tried to lean over neighboring shoulders to catch another look at the beautiful scenery, almost squished between an elbow and a backpack. Squawking to alert the passengers of her discomfort, she almost missed when a gentle touch wrapped around her and pushed her into a now-open seat. Confused, she blinked. Shin-Ah stood over her, golden eyes wincing as the sun now reflected off his face instead of the water. 

“Thank you,” Yona said softly, confused by his sudden move.

Shin-Ah didn’t respond, opting to partially turn away, as if embarrassed. Kija sighed from her right, startling her. It was hard to notice who was on the bus when it was this full. 

“Don’t mind him; he’s just an incredibly shy person,” Kija explained casually as if this were an everyday occurrence. “I met him this summer, and I think I’ve heard him say a total of 10 different words aloud.”

“Oh.”

“I blame his youthfulness,” Kija bemoaned. “He’s the youngest at the house--I think. How old are you again, Yona?”

“Twenty?” She was shocked at how easily the conversation flowed from one versus the other. Polar opposites.

“Yes, then that would make him the youngest here, though only by a year. Apparently this is his first year? I thought he was mute, but it turns out he’ll only talk to a few people and even then most of it is about his gerbil. I thought it was a dog for the longest time. Would have preferred if it was a dog.”

Yona wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Anyways, how do you know Yoon? He seems to really care about you.”

“We went to the same high school and enrolled together,” Yona responded, grateful for the change in topic. She really didn’t want to partake in the second act of the Ao Must Go initiative. She actually liked the gerbil, but it wasn’t really her place to say anything, given the circumstances. “He’s one of my best friends.”

“Oh that’s nice--we all assumed you were his girlfriend, based on how much he was talking you up before you came downstairs.” Kija grinned. Shin-Ha nodded seriously, still looking forward despite his apparent following of the conversation. “You have a good friend. We haven’t known Yoon that long, but he’s a really nice guy underneath all his sarcasm and bite.”

She giggled loudly, to which Shin-Ha smiled ever so slightly. “You’re right, especially about the bite. He’s not the easiest to get along with at first. He actually wouldn’t talk to me for a week when we first met because he thought I was a ‘spoiled, pampered princess’. It wasn’t until our other friend Hak told him we’d both fail our group project if he didn’t get over himself that Yoon started to talk to me.”

“That does sound like him. He’s incredibly stubborn.”

“He is!”

They continued conversing the whole way to the bottom of the hill and on the walk home, where Yona learned that Kija had graduated last semester but was working in the library until he could earn money (and experience) to enter a graduate program. Not unlike Soo-Won, Yona thought briefly before shoving the memory aside. Better to not think about him here; she could already feel her throat tightening at the thought of him. Kija continued talking, filling her in on the group while Shin-Ah trailed behind silently. By the time they got home, she was all but sure that she would pass a quiz on the group if she were handed one. 

“Well, that’s that!” Kija proclaimed. “That’s all there is to know about us. I’m going to hop inside for a shower if you don’t mind--it’s been a long day and there’s work to be done at home too.”

Yona nodded, barely having the time to wave politely as he moved ahead towards the house. Shin-Ah remained behind her, glancing up nervously before returning his gaze to the floor. Yona peered under his face, confused. “You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to,” she reassured with a kind smile. “I just wanted to let you know.”

Shin-Ah nodded, slowly growing redder the longer she remained. Slightly defeated, she pulled away to join Kija in the house. There was plenty of studying to do, even if she didn’t have class tomorrow, not to mention apartment hunting. 

“Thank you.”

She looked back. Shin-Ah was trying to meet her gaze but failing to, eyes darting nervously from her face to the trees off to the side. If she wasn’t imagining it, he was definitely fidgeting with his fingers inside his pockets. “It...was nice to meet you.”

“You too Shin-Ah. Thank you for today.”

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad set up after all. 


	2. Full House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hak somehow manages to twist the plot even further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer but I promise it's worth it!

“I really think you should tell Hak,” Yoon shouted from the kitchen, dropping the freshly bought groceries on the counter. 

Yona ignored him, attempting to drown him out through the power of study. Her textbook lay open on the table, but none of the information was actually being processed. Taking a year off from school had been necessary, but coming back was a lot easier said than done. Yoon threw a grape at her, nailing her in the forehead. “Ow! What was that for?”

“You’re ignoring me. Tell Hak Soo-Won kicked you out.”

“He didn’t kick me out,” she grumbled, picking the grape out from the crevice of her textbook and popping it in her mouth. Ew. Seeded grapes. 

“I saw that face! Don’t be spoiled! These grapes were on sale.”

“I’m not spoiled!”

“Says the one who won’t eat naturally seeded grapes.” Yoon continued unpacking the groceries into the fridge. There wasn’t nearly enough space for 6 people. He should have bought more shelf-life foods. “I don’t really understand what happened, but I still think you should tell Hak. It’s been 2 weeks, you haven’t found a job, you have no money, and this is getting ridiculous.”

“What am I supposed to tell him? Hey Hak, how are you? Oh sorry, I forgot to tell you I’m essentially homeless and squatting in a house with 4 strangers because I couldn’t see that Soo-Won actually didn’t want me living with him? By the way, I also didn’t save any money after selling everything out of the house last year, so all that time you spent helping me cart my house out to pawn shops was useless? How was your Econ class?”

“Sounds good to me,” Yoon replied flatly, staring at her over the open fridge door. “Just say that.”

“I can’t say that! He’ll kill me!”

  
“It’s not Hak’s fault you didn’t plan for the future and let everything ride on romantic fantasy.”

“My plan would have worked--”

“But it didn’t Yona and now you’re here. You’ve got no income, no savings, and nowhere to go.”

She groaned, burying her head into her textbook. “Are you going to kick me out too?”

“No, but I can’t guarantee the guys won’t.” Yoon closed the refrigerator door, shaking his hands of excess condensation as he walked over to sit at the table. The chair creaked as he pulled it back and sat down. “I’m not saying I don’t want you here. I’m saying you need to be honest with yourself about the situation you’re in and start taking some action here. If you asked the guys, they wouldn’t oppose giving you a permanent room but you have to start talking. What exactly happened?”

“Nothing,” Yona answered quickly, eyes falling to her book once more. 

“I can’t vouch for you if you don’t talk.”

“It’s okay, we like here enough,” Jae-Ha interrupted, walking past the dining room table and into the kitchen. “Frankly, I don’t care if she committed a crime and you were hiding her out. She doesn’t bother me, so I won’t bother her.”

“Your opinion doesn’t matter, go away.”

“Yeesh, is he always this cranky?”

“Always,” Yona replied with a smile. “He means well though.”

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” The clinking of glasses took up what should have been silence, Jae-Ha calmly taking a beer from the fridge for himself. Yoon looked at him in disbelief. “I’m a neutral party and I have no stake in this. Practice what you want to say to your friend--a bird or whatever his name is--and just get it over with.”

“That... isn’t a bad idea actually,” Yoon muttered, looking back towards Yona. “He’s right, you could use the practice to get through talking about it without crying.”

“I don’t cry--”

“We all hear you at night,” Jae-Ha said flatly. “Trust me, you ugly cry and it’s loud. It’s not attractive.”

“You sound just like Hak…”

“Good, it’ll be a great practice.” Jae-Ha took a seat at the table. “How do you want to do this? Should our house mom stay or go cook like we both know she wants to?”

“I’m going to cook some breakfast,” Yoon snapped, chair slamming as he stood up. “And it has nothing to do with you.”

Yona and Jae-Ha watched silently as he stormed back into the kitchen, listening to the pots and pans banging against each other as he began prepping for his meal. Jae-Ha leaned over onto the table, balancing his face on one hand while the other played with his bottled beverage. “So then, tell me. What happened?”

Yona flushed red, suddenly hit with the reality of having to relive her embarrassment. “It’s stupid,” she mumbled, playing with the thin pages of her textbook. 

“Probably, most things are, but that’s not an excuse. What happened? Did the love of your life realize you were moving in for the wrong reasons?”

Even if she could see herself, Yona couldn’t believe that she would have possibly felt more embarrassed than when she sat on the curb two weeks ago. Jae-Ha whistled quietly, taking a long drink from his beer before clearing his throat. “Well then. Looks like I hit the nail on the head.”

“Sorta...”

“Well, then what’s different?”

She couldn’t admit he was dead right. It sounded so...childish when said aloud. Instead, she said, “Why do you care?”

Jae-Ha hummed, fingers tapping the side of his glass bottle. “I’m not sure really. I guess I have nothing else going on. Plus, you’re kinda cute and refreshing to talk to in this household, so I’m intrigued. Think of me like an annoyingly suave big brother.”

The sounds of Yoon furiously chopping up vegetables filled the silence. She could hear the slow build of a sizzling pan, the cracking of eggs into a bowl. Yoon probably wouldn’t feed her unless she actually started talking and she couldn’t deny that talking to someone who was virtually a stranger might help. Sighing, she opened her mouth to speak.

“My dad died last year.”

Jae-Ha’s brows raised in surprise, but he remained silent, opting to continue drinking his beer instead. 

“I took a year off because he died in the early spring, so I wasn’t able to finish my term. It took me months to sell everything, Hak helped me through it. He took my stuff to the pawnshop when I had to start downsizing, he took me to his house for family dinners when I didn’t know how to cook, he taught me how to do everything I never learned because my dad took care of everything. Then at the end of the year, when I finally finished selling everything other than the house, Soo-Won came back from school.”

She took a deep breath, not trusting herself to start crying again. “He went abroad for a while and I hadn’t seen him since before the funeral. When he said he was planning on living in the area while he looked for work, I...I asked if I could live with him too. Hak and his family offered to let me live with them, but I didn’t want to impose more than I already had all year. So I packed my bags, ready to move in two weeks ago except...”

“He decided he didn’t want to live with you?”

“I told him I loved him,” Yona corrected. “I...I do love him. I’ve always loved him.”

“So what’s the problem, you can’t tell Hak because he’ll kill the guy?”

“I can’t tell Hak because Soo-Won didn’t kick me out, I lied.” Yona could feel the tears welling up, threatening to spill. “I could tell he didn’t like me, so before he could kick me out, I lied and said I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable and could move into a new place by myself instead. I didn’t even stay to listen to what he had to say.”

“I’m guessing that’s when you called Yoon and not Hak.”

She nodded quietly, a few loose tears spilling on to the page. “Hak always said to call him whenever something happened, but I can’t admit that I did something that stupid. I still don’t have a job and I don’t even have any savings because I never saved before my dad died. I have nothing. I can’t go to Hak with nothing, not after everything he did for me.”

“You’re in your twenties, you’re allowed to be stupid,” Jae-Ha replied calmly, draining his beer of the last few dregs. “I can’t say that I wouldn’t be upset if the girl I liked chose to ask someone else for help over me, especially if it was over someone who broke her heart.”

Dumbfounded, she finally looked up from her unread book. “I never said he liked me. Hak doesn’t like me, all he ever does is tease me and talk about how unattractive I am!”

“I hate to break it to you, but I highly doubt he spent his whole year helping you through some grief just because you were friends. Not that extensively.” He rolled the bottom of the bottle, watching Yoon cook from the corner of his eye. “That one over there would say otherwise, but it sounds like this guy has it bad for you, in my humble and honest opinion.”

She ignored me. “I still can’t tell him. He already thinks I’m incompetent. He spent the better half of a year teaching me how to function as a basic human being. I didn’t even know how to do laundry.”

“Nothing wrong with giving it a shot. What’s the worst that’ll happen?”

‘Hak stops talking to me too,’ she thought to herself. Still, she nodded in agreement. “I know. I should still tell him, I just... don’t know how.”

“Just tell him what you told me.” Jae-Ha shrugged when he caught her look of confusion. “You didn’t want to worry him after everything he’s done for you. Be clear and honest. He’ll understand.”

“I agree,” Yoon said, setting down three well-plated omelets on the table. Jae-Ha nodded in appreciation, digging into his breakfast. “Hak’s a straight forward guy. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.”

* * *

Three days later, she still wasn’t convinced Jae-Ha wasn’t trying to psyche her out. Now, waiting on the concrete stairs for Hak to meet her at the nearby park, all she could think about where Jae-Ha’s words. 

‘I can’t say that I wouldn’t be upset if the girl I liked chose to ask someone else for help over me, especially if it was over someone who broke her heart.’

Groaning, she curled into a ball on the step. There was no way this could backfire, so long as she didn’t think about what he said. What did he know after all? It’s not like he knew Jae-Ha. Jae-Ha didn’t even go to their school--he was 4 years older than Hak, what were the chances he would know what Hak was thinking? No way, no how, he was just pushing his flirtatious thoughts into her head and now all she could think about was how Hak’s voice rumbled deeply when he spoke--

“What are you doing on the ground?” 

Startled, she jumped. “I wish you would stop scaring me like that,” she whined in frustration, hand on her chest in an attempt to slow its rapid pace. “You don’t always have to sneak up on me like that.”

“If you were more aware of your surroundings, you wouldn’t be scared in the first place. What’s up? You said you wanted to talk.”

She couldn’t uncurl from her original position, too comforted by her own embrace. Instead, she shuffled over to the left in order to make room for Hak. Rather than wait until he was seated, comfortable, and scrutinizing her with his piercing gaze, she opted to blurt it out all at once.

“I’m sorta...homeless?"

Hak froze mid-air, nearly dropping onto the concrete seat at full speed. He rose to his full height, towering over her in silent but slowly growing anger. “What did you say?”

“I mean, not really homeless,” she corrected quickly. “I don’t live on the streets or anything but also I don’t live with Soo-Won, I’ve been staying with Yoon for the last two weeks--there are other people there but they’re great--anyway, I don’t have any money and I can’t find a job. So...I guess you could say I’m home-less, not homeless...if that makes sense....”

Relieved that it wasn’t as bad as she initially made him believe, Hak took a second to breathe, something he’d learned to master over the years of knowing and growing up with Yona at his side. This was not the first time and would not be the last time she made a bad call and came running to him for help. At least, he reminded himself, she was smart enough to call Yoon, even if she didn’t think to call him first. Which brought him to his first question, the one that was threatening to give him a minor migraine. Bringing his hand to the bridge of his nose, he exhaled slowly.

“Why exactly don’t you live with Soo-Won?”

Her face burnt brightly, rivaling the shade of her own hair. 

“You told him you love him, didn’t you?”

“...Maybe.”

“And what then?” Hak asked, genuinely confused. As far as he knew, Soo-Won had always liked her back. It wasn’t Yona’s fault he would never have made the first move, but it didn’t make sense for him to kick her out. Then again he was still trying to wrap his mind around Yona calling Yoon instead of him, so it's not like anything made sense right now.

“He doesn’t like me back,” Yona mumbled, trying yet again to stave off her tears. “I could see it in his face Hak, it was so humiliating. I couldn’t stay after that, it was too awkward. He even said he thought of me like a little sister! His sister!”

The amount of patience and virtue he was calling on right now rivaled that of a priest. There was no way that was true but Hak would be damned if he didn’t find Soo-Won after this and shake the truth out of him. Not that it mattered if Yona believed him.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I’m staying with Yoon until I can find a job and move into a new apartment by myself,” she said firmly, quickly wiping the tears from her face with her soft fleece sleeves. “He’s been really helpful.”

Hak exhaled loudly, finally taking a seat beside her. He watched passerby’s jog past them, excited about the remaining warm weather. “Why didn’t you call me,” he asked, defeated. “I would have helped, you know.”

“...I’m sorry--”

“No.” Hak turned in his seat to face her, towering her with his height. She refused to look at him, still bothered by Jae-Ha’s words. She could smell his fresh shampoo and body wash, noting his clean clothes that clashed with the workout bag at his side. His routines never changed, even years later. Maybe she would have noted more if he wasn’t basically cornering her in public, all but whispering in her ear. “You promised you would call after your dad died. No matter what or when you would call me if you were in trouble. Why didn’t you?”

His breath was hot on her neck, words tickling each time he spoke another word. Chills ran down her arms but she held strong to her scripted practice. Maybe Jae-Ha had a point after all. “I...I didn’t want to keep using you. You helped me so much after dad died. I...I can’t keep being a burden.”

Hak stopped, pulling back. There was a look she didn’t recognize in his eyes. “Is that what you really think?”

Yona shrugged, completely overwhelmed by her own shame. Her watch buzzed in quick bursts, a notice that time was not her friend and she would be late to class if she waited any longer. “I have to go now, Hak.”

“Yona--”

“I have to go.”

“I’m going to visit you,” he said firmly, catching her wrist as she turned to leave. His grip was tight but not painful and she was overly aware of her racing pulse. “I’m going to visit you after my shift at work tonight.”

“Hak--”

“No, if’s, and’s, or but’s. I’m going.” He pulled her closer, pressing his forehead into the crook of her neck. 

“You didn’t call me,” he murmured, voice low. She was surprised at how upset he was. She honestly hadn’t expected him to care this much--maybe be annoyed at the stupidity of her actions, but not upset. Her face was growing hotter by the second, acutely aware of how warm he felt to the touch. “You didn’t call me and I didn’t know you needed help. Please. Give me some peace of mind.”

What could she do but agree?

* * *

  
“I think he hates me,” she moaned into a pillow, barely audible past all the fluff and fabric. 

Shin-Ah sat quietly at the other end of the basement, feeding Ao small slivers of cucumber at a time. Hak would be here soon but she had nothing to pass the time except complain about her circumstance. Yoon had taken it upon himself to clean the entire house and cook what he called ‘a family meal’ when he heard Hak was coming to visit, so the only place she was considered out of his way was in the basement. It had only been two weeks since she’d moved here, but out of everyone in the house (Yoon excluded), she often found herself enjoying the company of the quietest member of the house. She liked to believe Shin-Ah felt the same way, given that she'd noticed he really only ever spoke around her. 

"I didn't even say any of the stuff I practiced with Jae-Ha!" She bemoaned, pillow pressed further and further into her face. "What was the point of even practicing if I couldn't tell him how I felt!"

"I think you did fine," Shin-Ah noted softly, rising up from his reading nook to sit beside her. Despite the dark ambiance, he really spent most of his time downstairs reading books upon books. Yona's occasional crying and panicking were really the only noises that disturbed the peace down here in the basement. He didn't seem to mind however, rather he looked almost at peace with her presence.  
At least, that's what she wanted to think.

"Shin-Ah, would you be upset if I lived here from now on?"

"No." He took a new seat beside her on the couch.

"Even if I can't afford to pay rent?" She asked weakly, peering up from behind the pillow.

He hesitated, looking up as he contemplated his answer. "It would be hard."

She sighed, leaning back into him. "Yes, that's what I thought as well." She mumbled, fiddling with a loose strand of her hair. 

The doorbell rang, signaling that the time for her self-appointed pity party was over. Sighing, she rose to her feet and began shuffling towards the stairs. 

"Ask Hak for advice," Shin-Ah called out quietly, watching her leave. Door closing loudly behind her, he was almost certain she didn’t hear him. 

Yoon was already mothering Hak towards the kitchen when she came up the stairs, complaining about the invisible mess everywhere. Despite the late-night visit, Hak looked anything but exhausted, still clad in his uniform. A uniform she did not recognize.

“I thought you were working at that grocery store?” she questioned, following the pair into the kitchen where Yoon had already set out plates for their meal. Hak shrugged, unfazed by her sudden appearance as he took a seat. 

“I picked up a new job in night time security last week. The hours aren’t always great but it pays better,” he admitted, taking a moment to loosen a button from his neat collar. “I covered a day shift today, but I usually work until 2 am before heading home.”

“You’d make a pair with Yoon, he doesn’t come home until 3 am sometimes.”

“I am studying for my future in medicine, and I don’t appreciate having to defend myself,” Yoon complained, furiously shoveling salad onto each plate. Once each plate had what he must have considered an acceptable amount of greens (which was likely far too much), he stood straight and dropped the salad claws back into the bowl, patting his hands-free of the condensation from the wooden tools. “If you excuse me, I have to go remind my roommates that they agreed to basic guest etiquette tonight.”

Both of them nodded, turning to continue teasing Yoon behind his back as he walked towards the hallway when Yoon himself stopped all possible conversation with a shout that was likely heard from here to the next street.

“DINNER IS SERVED, IF YOU DON’T COME DOWN TO EAT WHEN IT’S HOT I’M NEVER MAKING YOU MEAL AGAIN.”

Yona and Hak struggled to hide their laughter, lest incurring Yoon’s displaced rage. Instead, Hak raised his hand to cover his smile and Yona quickly took up her glass of water for a drink. They might have succeeded, had Yoon not then walked over and in a fit of indignation, took off his waist apron, and ferociously threw it on the kitchen counter behind them. 

“I go to class all day, study after class, clean the house and cook a meal. You would think they would have the decency to at least come down to eat when the meal is ready!” He rambled angrily, stirring the meal furiously in the already cool skillet. “What is the point of working on a meal if no one appreciates it?”

Hak all but snorted, his body shaking with laughter. Yona also struggled to hide her amusement, putting her water down in fear of spitting it out everywhere. “I did forget to Shin-Ah to come up with me,” she said, rising to her favorite housemate’s defense.

“Oh please, it’s Shin-Ah. He heard the doorbell and probably found an excuse to hide somewhere in his room.” Yoon grumbled, scooping copious amounts of sauteed chicken onto individual plates. 

“We’re sorry for the late arrival,” Kija replied, announcing his arrival as he all but pushed Shin-Ah into the room. Jae-Ha and Zeno followed behind, each taking a moment to briefly welcome Hak. “We would have been on time, but I had to inform Shin-Ah that Ao is not a good dinner partner for this type of meal.”

Shin-Ah didn’t reply, allowing himself and Zeno to be pushed into the booth seat beside Yona; Kija and Jae-Ha taking the seats on her other side. Unperturbed, Yona smiled at each one of them, patiently waiting for Yoon to finish his self-inflicted tantrum and bring over the plates. Hak, on the other hand, was acutely aware of posturing that was happening across the table. It wasn’t like he could ignore it, given that the majority of the all-male household had just squeezed themselves into a seating arrangement meant for three small people at most, ignoring the two open chairs on either side of Hak. Yona remained completely oblivious to it all, focused on the incoming meal, not the icy stare half of the room was fixing onto him.

“Okay, food is ready--what are you idiots doing?” Yoon stared at his roommates incredulously. “There are two chairs, one of you move out from there and sit next to Hak. You’re going to crack our bench seat.”

No one moved. An awkward silence began to fill the room and Yona felt increasingly obliged to negate it. “I can move--”

The silence was cut by the cacophony of her roommates shuffling over each other to move out from the space they shared, each one insisting on moving out (with the exception of Shin-Ah, of course). With a shoving kick, Jae-Ha pushed all contenders back onto the bench. “I would like to enjoy Hak’s intimate company tonight,” he chirped, dropping into the chair on his left. “After all, he is the guest of honor.”

“I’m touched,” Hak replied dryly. 

Yona looked from left to right, confused. “Are you sure? I can still move over to the empty seat, Hak is my friend after all.”

“That seat should be reserved for Yoon,” Kija said stiffly, pressing towards her more comfortably now that there was a little more space. “Besides, you always sit here.”

Shin-Ah and Zeno nodded, working to pass down the plates Yoon had brought over for their meal. “We wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Zeno exclaimed. “You should sit here, so you can see your friend.”

“Isn’t that ironic,” Yoon muttered under his breath as he passed by Hak. 

“What brings you here Hak?” Kija began, trying to emit an air of seriousness as he took his own meal. “We’ve heard a lot about you through Yoon and Yona, but it was a surprise when Yona told us you’d be visiting tonight. It’s rather lucky to have us all here at the same time.”

“I wanted to see where Yona was staying. Especially since she didn’t mention who exactly she’s crashing with.” Hak replied before taking a bite of his meal. “Besides, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was looking forward to Yoon’s cooking.”

“That’s a first. I thought I’d die before hearing those words.”

“It seems like she’s made herself right at home though.” Hak glanced up from his meal, taking in how comfortably squished Yona looked. She was too busy thanking Shin-Ah for the napkin he gave her to notice how much attention was inadvertently being given to her around the room. Jae-Ha had taken the moment to refill her water with the pitcher in the middle of the table. Zeno was carefully moving the salt and pepper closer to her reach and Kija was more interested in eyeing the amount of food left on Yona’s plate. “I feel kind of bad that you have to deal with such a freeloader.”

“I am not a freeloader!”

“Are you paying rent?”

“No...”

“Are you helping clean the house?”

“Well, that doesn’t count, Yoon won’t let me--”

“Do you help buy or pick up stuff for the house?”

“...no...”

Hak smirked. “Freeloader.”

Yona huffed, stuffing herself with salad instead. “Don’t worry Yona, we still like having you around,” Zeno reassured her, reaching around Shin-Ah to pat her on the head. Shin-Ah nodded, hoodie nearly dipping into his food as Zeno wiggled into space behind him. 

“I don’t want to be a freeloader,” she insisted, using her fork to play with her food. "I am trying to get a job, it's just…"

"Everyone is applying now because it’s the start of the term,” Jae-Ha reassured with a smile. “Regardless, none of us here mind you overstaying your expected timeline.”

“I’m less worried about that than I am about the bills!” Yona replied hotly, clearly already prepared for this argument. “I can’t keep staying here if I’m not paying rent. How will you keep up with the electric and water bills? The heat? I’m not even on the lease, what if the owner of the house comes back and kicks us all out?”

“How much is your rent?” Hak inquired, mentally recalling the appearance of the house from his walk here. “It’s what, a 5 bedroom house with a basement that’s close to campus? That can’t be cheap.”

“It’s about 650 dollars each but it includes most everything,” Yoon answered. “So around 3,250 total, which is kind of a steal around here. It would be nice if Yona could start chipping in though, so we could afford to turn the heat on in the winter...”

“I can pay.”

The fumbling of forks and small side chatter that had been ongoing in the background stopped, with the exception of the loud splat of chicken as it fell from Kija’s fork and onto the table. Even Yona had stopped mid-action, utensil hovering in the air as she stared at Hak, speechless. Jae-Ha was the first to speak, albeit rather unsure.

“I’m sorry, I think we misheard you. What did you--”

“No, you heard me right. I’ll pay.”

Yona sputtered incoherently. “Y-you can’t just---Hak, I can’t--what about--”

“Hold up,” Hak interrupted her, holding a hand to her face as he set down his own fork. “I wasn’t done.”

The table fell silent again, all eyes carefully watching Hak’s every move. As if milking the moment, he patiently moved aside his plate and took a long drink of water. He wiped his mouth clean with the cloth napkin Yoon had placed to his right at the start of the meal. Yoon exchanged a bewildered look with Yona, mouthing ‘Did you know about this?’. She shook her head furiously, unable to look away from Hak for too long. There was no telling what he would do next. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, Hak spoke again. 

However, there was no way they could have prepared for what he said next.

“I would be happy to pay for Yona’s rent. In exchange, I want to live here too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finding a way to get Hak to deliver that line naturally was the hardest thing I've ever done. I think. 
> 
> A lot of this household is based on some all-boys house I used to visit when I was in college. After my friends moved out of the dorms, most of the guys I knew went to live there. It was definitely WAY too small for 8 guys and even more of them crashed there during the week. It was a great hangout place though and we usually had dinners and weird social events for those of us who didn't really enjoy the bar or club scene.
> 
> Gotta love American college life.


	3. Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone adjusts to a far too cramped house, Yona grows up a little, Hak learns to speak his mind, and baking is used as a method of reconciling.

To say that they were cramped would be an understatement.

At least for now, a comforting mantra Yoon and Kija kept repeating to their housemates as the house shifted its furniture around. Just until everyone finished swapping rooms comfortably they would add quickly, whenever frustration met their eager faces. In the meantime, the growing stack of furniture in the hallway remained precariously balanced like some form of modern art. The only ones who were comfortable were Shin-Ah and Kija, as the first task of the now full household was to merge Kija’s living arrangements with Shin-Ah’s. While he wasn’t exactly pleased with the number of small spiders that would occasionally crawl out into the basement, it was still pleasantly spacious. The same could not be said about the upper floors of the house. 

While the others debated on where to move in order to make space, Hak had taken up residence in the living room. Given that there weren’t enough rooms for everyone to room alone, they would have to come up with a method to pair up in rooms, with one person keeping a room to themselves. After drawing straws, it was easily agreed and accepted upon that Yona would be the one rooming alone. Despite her suspicion that the drawing had been rigged, there was no winning an argument against six other individuals. Yoon would room with Zeno, Hak with Jae-Ha, and she remained isolated at the end of the hall, so rather than fight a losing battle, she brooded silently while she assisted in moving small pieces of furniture around the home. Or, that is what she had been doing until Hak came by with more boxes and found her asleep on the floor. Aggravated, he set the box down on the floor and kicked the throw pillow out from under her head.

“Hey. Princess. Wake up.”

Yona groaned as her head hit the wooden floor. “Ow...what did you do that for?”

“Not that you’d ever ask, but this is why you can’t get a job,” Hak replied coldly, staring down at her with disdain. “We haven’t even been moving for more than an hour and you already needed a nap.”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she grumbled. Two tall stacks of books waited for her attention to the left, even more books waiting in the boxes Hak had just brought in. “If you wanted me to feel more awake, maybe I should have gotten a more useful job.”

“Don’t let Yoon here you say that those are his books. He takes those very seriously.”

“It’s still a job anyone could do,” Yona grumbled, pushing her messy hair back out of her face as she sat up. It was tangled. Again. “I could be helping you move Yoon’s furniture in--or moving the furniture into your room. I could be doing basically anything else.”

“I’d like to see you try and lift the desk.” Hak teased. “Just do what you can. It’ll be less disappointing for you.”

“You’re so rude,” she mumbled, resuming her task of carefully placing Yoon’s books into place. For someone so often outside of the house, he had a lot of books. She wondered if he took them to read on the bus. “I just want to be more useful.”

Hak sighed. “You’re plenty useful just...it’s more helpful if you do this, you know?”  
“That’s just a polite way of telling me that I’m not good for anything.”

“That’s not what I said--”

“Why did you agree to pay my half of the rent then?”

Hak stood silently in the middle of the room, taking a deep breath before speaking. “You couldn’t pay. I could.”

“You didn’t have to do that. You didn’t have to move in.”

“Of course I did, what else could I do,” Hak replied quietly, walking over and taking a seat beside her. He sighed. “It’s all I can do. You needed help. I can’t solve your problems with Soo-Won and I can’t make going back to school any easier, but I could do this. I could at least do this. If anyone is useless here, it’s me.”

Yona hesitated, a book still in hand. “I...I didn’t think it would bother you that much, not calling you for help.”

“Yeah, of course, you wouldn’t,” he breathed out softly, leaning his side against her back. She didn’t hear him.

“I wasn’t trying to ignore you,” Yona mumbled, pushing the book into place. “I was trying to be considerate. You still lived with Mun-Deok and Tae-Yeon. I didn’t want to impose, not after staying with you for so long. It was embarrassing, going back after that whole speech I gave on moving forward with my life to live with Soo-Won. And besides, I did try to do the responsible thing and call someone--”

“I wanted you to rely on me,” Hak whispered back, falling even further back against her. She leaned forward against her own body due to the pressure, legs pressed against her chest, heart-pounding uncontrollably. She could feel each breath he took, words rumbling in his chest as he spoke. “Just me. No one else.”

They sat there silently for a moment, brought back to reality as Zeno stepped in with a new box of books. “He really does like to read, doesn’t he?”

“Y-yes,” Yona replied hastily, snapping to an upright position, forcing Hak to slip off her back and into the wall. She ignored his grunting complaint, pointing to a location for the newest box to be set. “Yes, he does. Excuse me, I’m going to start setting up my room now.”

“But they aren’t done moving everything out,” Zeno said, explanation falling short as she all but scrambled out of the room and into the hallway. She turned the corner quickly, nearly slamming into a few doorframes on her way to her new room. Face burning hot and hands shaking, she slipped into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Turning around shakily, she wanted nothing more than to bury herself in her bed, except for the minor fact that Jae-Ha, Kija, and Shin-Ah were in the midst of constructing it. Both parties remained frozen in place, staring at each other like animals in the middle of a stand-off. Somehow, Yona got the feeling that if she spoke first, she would lose the metaphorical battle of wills.

Thankfully, Kija didn’t know how to stay quiet for too long.

“Are you alright?”

The chaos that ensued was almost instantaneous. Kija dropped his side of the bedframe, rushing over to check on Yona. Shin-Ah, seemingly realizing that he would not be able to hold up his end without Kija (or possibly, also concerned about Yona), promptly let go. Jae-Ha swore loudly as the back end of the bedframe dropped to the ground, one wooden leg nearly landing on his foot in the process. His knees bumped against the headrest painfully and he dropped down, groaning in self-pity. Kija ignored him, attention full on Yona. “You’re so red! Are you alright? Have you not had anything to drink? It’s still warm out, you could get dehydrated doing all this work.”

“I barely got any work to begin with,” Yona argued back feebly, unable to hold back a smile. She brushed off his attempt to bring a hand to her forehead, kindly guiding it back to his side. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“You didn’t say you drank any water,” Kija chided, motioning Shin-Ah to bring his water bottle from the windowsill. Shin-Ah was already three steps ahead, carefully stepping behind Jae-Ha’s hunched frame and reaching for the container. Jae-Ha glared as he walked back to Yona, gritting his teeth. 

“You could have put it down gently,” he griped, squeezing himself out from behind the bedframe. “It doesn’t have a mattress but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt if you dropped it on me.”

“I thought Shin-Ah would catch it,” Kija replied, unconcerned. Yona nodded in appreciation as she was handed the water bottle. She couldn’t disagree on one point; it was still hot out. 

“Bullshit,” he grumbled. Shin-Ah was carefully avoiding his gaze, attention focused on anywhere but to his immediate right. Kija immediately stepped between them, arms crossed in obvious disapproval. Watching the boys argue over priorities and lack of consideration, Yona silently took a moment to think through her conversation with Hak. Mostly one thing bothered her, and she supposed this was as good a time as any to bring it up.

“Is there anything I can do around the house, to help earn my keep?”

The boys stopped arguing long enough to look at her in confusion. “You don’t have to do anything,” Kija said, dumbfounded. “Hak already said he’s covering the rent.”

“He’s right,” Jae-Ha agreed, forgetting his argument and sore knees. “It’s not like we’re going to ask you to pay us with your body or anything. We really didn’t care about the rent in the first place, though Hak paying for your half is nice for our own bank accounts.”

Yona shrank, guilty. “Oh. I didn’t realize I was being that much of a financial burden.”

“That’s not what he meant,” Shin-Ah interrupted quietly from the back, surprising everyone. All eyes on him, he flushed pink and retreated into his shirt. “I-I-I didn’t think that.”

Kija smiled, patting his friend on the arm consolingly. “He’s right though Yona. We never thought of you as a burden. You were a friend in need, and we wanted to help.”

“We weren’t friends before this,” Yona insisted, handing back the water bottle.

“Yes, but a friend of Yoon’s is a friend of ours.” Kija continued softly, taking back his water. “We were always happy to have you here, regardless of how long it took to get you on your feet.”

Jae-Ha shrugged in agreement, retreating back to his previous workstation. “Now, if Hak wants to help out by paying and reducing our combined rent, I’m not going to complain. Either way, you were always welcome to stay. It’s just official now. There is one thing you could do though.”

Yona perked up, eager to support her friends and gain some responsibility. “What is it?”

“Get a job.”

* * *

The following two weeks that ensued were a culminating group effort to help Yona find employment. Zeno and Shin-Ah had spent late nights helping her polish job applications with her lack of experience--for once since his death did she resent her father for providing her everything in life. Jae-Ha and Hak dedicated themselves to teaching her how to act in an interview, while Yoon developed a set of pre-approved outfits she was allowed to wear during her job recruitment. By the end of the second week, she had struck gold in her desperate search for some source of income.   
The job didn’t pay well and she was half-convinced they only employed her given that they needed the help, but she was excited to announce her employment as a local florist shop. While her tasks would be relatively minimal--assist on regularly scheduled deliveries, she was ecstatic at the prospect of developing some self-sufficiency. However, towards the end of the month, she was even more excited at the thought of using her first paycheck to thank her friends, Yoon in particular. With the weather taking a quiet turn towards fall, she was constantly reminded that Yoon’s birthday approached. Every year, Yoon baked his own cake but this year she was determined to show him how much she appreciated his support. She could also use this to show her housemates just how much she valued their friendship. 

Or at least, that was what she had planned. 

Standing in the kitchen late at night, covered in flour, sugar, and possibly cinnamon, she was beginning to regret not having ordered a cake instead. Raking over the recipe on her phone for what felt like the hundredth time, she scanned for any sign of where she could have gone wrong. Unable to find the answer on her glowing screen and the late hour blinking at her glaringly, she let out a slow but loud sigh, leaning back against the kitchen counter behind her. How she’d convinced herself that she would suddenly be capable of baking when she’d barely ever even touched a stove was beyond her. Especially when she could clearly remember the sweet delight that Yoon had made last year. She could still savor the chocolate flakes that had been sprinkled on top. 

The creaking of floorboards interrupted her reverie, her attention completely caught by whoever was attempting to sneak up on her. 

Hak stood in the kitchen doorway, frowning. 

“What the hell happened here?”

She huffed. “My attempt at baking,” she responded flatly, motioning to the mess left on the counter before her. “I was trying to make a cake for Yoon’s birthday this weekend, but I forgot I can’t bake.”

“Well yeah, no shit. I’d be surprised if you even knew how to fry an egg.”

“Actually, I can’t do that either.”

Hak snorted. “Well then, what can you make Princess Yona?” he teased, finally stepping into the kitchen to closely inspect the mess. Somehow she’d gotten eggshells everywhere. “I thought your doting father never let you feel the need to cook like us peasants.”

“Shut up Hak, I can make a sandwich.”

“I don’t think stuffing pre-cooked meats between sliced bread really warrants as cooking,” Hak replied coolly, fighting a smile as he noticed that she even had eggshells in her hair. “How many chicken eggs were sacrificed tonight? You know, they work hard to lay those eggs.”

“Maybe eight? This is my third attempt,” she admitted sheepishly, looking down at her apron. It was a miracle there was nothing on the ceiling. “I’m not even sure I used cocoa powder, it smells a lot like cinnamon.”

Hak hummed quietly, reaching over and plucking pieces of shell from her hair. “You’re gross,” he remarked, amused. “Go take a shower. I’ll clean up.”

“I still haven’t made anything--” she protested but he dismissed her, leaning in to reach behind and undoing her apron in one fluid movement. 

“Go shower, then come back. I’ll help you bake.”

“Hak, it’s midnight. You should go to bed.”

“So should you, but I don’t see you getting ready for sleep. Or were you planning on passing out at the kitchen table and setting the house on fire after a fifth attempt?”

Yona felt her face burn up in embarrassment, the heat reaching down into her neck. Furiously, she ran up the stairs and to the bathroom. The communal laundry basket accepted her donation of food covered clothes as she undressed and stepped into the shower. Even as the smell of egg yolk washed away from her, she refused to admit Hak was even a smidge correct about having needed a shower. The whole process took less than five minutes, and after taking a quick towel-covered run through the hallway and to her room, she was re-dressed and read to attempt a fourth bake. On her way to the stairs, Kija stepped into the hall, tired but confused by all the noise. 

“What’s going on? Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine,” Yona replied quickly, hand still gripping the rail for balance. She looked back behind the sleep ridden man. “Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, why aren’t you downstairs in the basement asleep?”

“We were all watching some movie in Jae-Ha’s room. Yoon’s the only one who went to bed. I kind of wish I had though. I’m not a fan of horror movies.” Sure enough, Yona could hear the television in the closest room blaring dramatic music. Zeno peered through the open crack of the door, waving.

“Oh. Well, I hope you get some sleep.”

“I might just pass out here,” Kija mumbled, shuffling back into the darkened room. The door shut behind him with a soft sigh, the old wooden frame creaking under the pressure. Yona took the opportunity to make her way back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Inside the kitchen, Hak had made quick work of clearing off the mess she’d left behind, an open kitchen counter greeting her upon her return. He was already busying himself with a mixing bowl and a few ingredients. She noticed that he had already mixed the wet ingredients--most likely to avoid a revisiting of her disaster with the eggs. 

“I can’t make a cake,” Hak explained as she opened her mouth, eyes glued to his task. “But thanks to Tae-Yeon I can make some decent cookies. You’ll just have to make do with those.”

Defeated and exhausted, she nodded, wet hair attaching itself further on her nightgown. She would never admit it, but she was grateful for the opportunity to get to bed that much sooner. Damp feet sticking to the linoleum floor slightly as she walked back into the kitchen, she peered over his shoulder to examine his work before moving on to pull out a cookie sheet. She set to work preparing the sheet for the incoming dough. 

“You’re such a doting older brother,” she teased gently, hands carefully measuring out the correct amount of baking paper before slicing it off the roll. Crinkling the paper slightly to prevent it from curling up, she kneaded the parchment. “Mun-Deok would be touched to see you use your skills for someone outside his house. What did he use to call you? Lazy brat?”

“Only when I refused to do what he asked.”

“Which was always,” Yona reminded him, pushing the first prepped cookie sheet towards him. She quickly set to work on the next sheet. “I still remember when you hid out at my house because you never did the laundry like he’d asked.”

Hak shivered involuntarily, though a smile still lightly graced his expression. He extended out a small ice cream scoop to her, ready to start baking. “It wasn’t on purpose, though it was an unfortunate day for me to forget. We had to wear whatever was left in the wardrobe. It looked awful. I’m surprised the court deemed us fit to adopt Tae-Yeon that day.”

“Having adopted you first was probably the only sign this was a semi-functional household,” Yona snickered. She took the scoop, carefully digging out small balls of cookie dough before plopping them onto the prepped sheet. “This brings back memories.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. When we were kids and Dad would let us throw in the chocolate chips at the end.” Her eyes watered slightly, threatening to spill over but she took a deep breath and continued focusing on the task at hand. “...I miss him.”

“...I do too,” Hak echoed softly, slowly taking one of the finished trays and throwing it into the oven. He waited for Yona to finish filling hers before closing the oven door, setting a timer on his phone before leaning onto the back counter. She slipped in beside him, Hak taking to opportunity to calmly wrap his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer. She could feel him inhale and exhale as they watched the cookies bake. Rather than speak, they stood there silently, mourning in their own private way. 

“I missed this too,” Yona admitted shakily, realizing it had been a while since they had last discussed the elephant in the room. Everytime they spoke, it had been in preparation for her job, ignoring the continuing fact that Hak was still upset with her. For some reason, the trim of her nightgown suddenly seemed very interesting. There were fresh dots of water where her hair had stuck, damp and cold in the unheated part of the house. If she had bothered to think ahead, she probably would have worn pants downstairs too, knowing now that the heat in the house was ancient and often times did not turn on at night. Then again, thinking ahead wasn’t exactly her strong suit at this time. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings back then. I don’t think you’re useless.”

“I don’t think you’re useless either.” Hak mused, hand gently rubbing her shoulder. His hand was a welcome warmth in the cold kitchen, her legs warmed only through the heat that escaped the oven. She envied his sweatpants. “A little airheaded sometimes--”

“Hey.”

“--But useless is something you’re not.” He continued, tilting his body slightly so that he could rest his head down atop hers. “You’ve come a long way from being a spoiled Daddy’s girl.”

He pressed his face into her wet hair, inhaling deeply before exhaling. They stayed that way for what felt like an eternity, Yona certain that her fruity shampoo would tickle his nose but Hak made no complaint. After a few minutes, he pulled away, arm falling off her shoulder and back to his side. Somewhat embarrassed by the loss of his touch, she shuffled a few steps away, hands balling up at her semi-exposed thighs. Oh how desperately she wished for pockets. 

"So what are you going to do now?" He asked, eyes never leaving the oven door. There were about five minutes left on his timer, the glow of his phone alerting him of the time again. "You went back to school, finally moved out on your own, got a job--what's next on your list?"

She hesitated, unsure of what to say. She hadn't put much thought into what to do after leaving her childhood home, aside from continuing school. She hadn't even decided on a course of study, let alone a future beyond her current reach. Exhaustion was beginning to set in and it was beginning harder and harder to stay engaged in a fluid conversation. 

"I'm not sure," she answered honestly, voice weary. "I'm not sure I want to stay in school, if I'm being honest."

Hak looked at her in slight disbelief. "I wouldn't say that I'm shocked, but I am confused as to why you came back then."

She shrugged. "It's what Dad wanted. I never really put much thought beyond it. And let's be honest, after this quarter I won't have the money to continue going. Not unless I apply for loans."

Hak nodded, arms folding across his chest. "I know what you mean. I took out loans so we could keep the money for Tae-Yeon's college fund. I wouldn't blame you if you stopped going."

Yona sighed heavily, eyes heavy with sleep. "I'll have to wait and see."

Hak peered down at her again, noting her slumping form and slow blinking eyes. Almost as quickly, he looked away, a slightly noticeable pink blush spreading across his face. In all her hurry, she’d picked a slightly thinner gown and the water from her hair was slowly staining its way down the fabric, making it very clear how her chest rose and fell with each sleepy sigh.

"You should go to bed." he stated, voice low and strained. Yona didn’t notice.

"I'm fine, I'm just getting used to working right after classes." She insisted, though her credibility faltered as she stumbled forward slightly in an attempt to shake her head. Hak gently nudged her upright again, smirking weakly as he refrained from looking at her directly.

"True, but between you and me, I'm the one with the graveyard shifts and therefore more adapted to staying up past one in the morning. Just go to bed, it won't take that much longer."

"I'm the one who wanted to thank Yoon for everything, and I didn't even make the cookies," she argued stubbornly. Reaching up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she slapped her cheeks in an attempt to keep awake. Placing her palms flat on the counter behind her, she attempted to jump back onto the smooth surface, failing to actually reach the height necessary. 

"I can do this. Just eight more minutes," she grunted out from exertion, attempting the jump again.

"Five actually, but suit yourself," Hak replied, refusing to look her way. He listened to her bounce weakly off the floor two more times, before glancing over to make fun of her plight. Almost instantly, he pulled out of his stiff stance and stepped into her space. Before Yona had time to react, Hak placed both hands firmly on her waist and lifted her onto the counter. She shouted in surprise, momentarily too shocked to move before settling into her new seat. Curious and confused, she went to search Hak’s face for answers, only to have him settle it into the crook of her neck. This time it was she who could smell his head, albeit she was too distracted to notice. Frustrated, she shifted forward, determined to see his face.

“Hak, what are you--”

“Please stop.” His voice was muffled through her shoulder and fabric of her gown. “Just, please. Stop.”

Yona frowned but obliged, dropping back into a seated position, the back of her knees cooling against the smooth counter surface. Impatient, she began bouncing her legs against the cabinet doors, only to have Hak’s hands instantly drop down and hold them still. His hands dwarfed her small legs, palms easily covering her knees. His fingers were curled, nails digging into her skin uncomfortably. 

“Hak, that kind of hurts,” Yona grumbled, a sigh escaping her chest. “What are you doing?”

“Stopping you,” he replied curtly, though relaxing his fingers just enough to relieve the pressure on her skin. He did not, however, raise his gaze to meet hers. 

“From what?” she asked impatiently. He shook his head in the crook of her neck, exhaling slowly. 

“Nothing,” he mumbled, slowly straightening up. There were about two minutes left on the timer, so he reached over to the drawer nearby and pulled out a pair of oven mitts. He continued preparing to take out the cookies by then reaching for another cabinet that held cooling racks, Yona noting silently that Hak was shockingly at ease in the kitchen. She watched him continue to disregard her entire existence, officially frustrated but refusing to give up on seeking her response.

“Are you mad at me because I won’t go to sleep?” she asked incredulously, still seeking answers from his stoic expression. It was now that she registered the growing flush on his face, a bright red that was spreading to his ears. Was he feeling sick or was the dry heat from the oven getting to him in contrast to the crisp kitchen air? “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he insisted gruffly, quickly reaching over to stop his alarm before it went off. Slipping his hands into the bright red mitts, he bent over slightly to open the oven. The dry heat escaped into the kitchen in a rush, allowing her some reprieve from the cold air. Her nightgown was starting to feel uncomfortably wet so the heat was a welcome momentary addition to the cold kitchen. The small breeze caused by his movement, however, brought with it a sudden appreciation for his hesitation. In her hurry to run back downstairs, she’d forgone a lot of typical post-shower tendencies. Her skin felt dry without lotion and her wet hair had suffered under her choice to air dry but there was one habit that was so ingrained in her nightly habits, she hadn’t paid any mind to it until just now. 

She had neglected to put on a bra.  
  
The heat on her face had nothing to do with the oven at this point. Shoulders curling inward, she dropped to the floor once more, no longer registering that Hak was pulling the cookies out of the oven without her. “I-I’m going to bed,” she muttered quickly, unable to pull her eyes off the floor. 

“Sure.”

In her haste to leave, she fumbled into him, a consequence of refusing to look where she was walking. Caught off guard between shutting the oven half bent over, Hak finally looked at her. They stood there frozen, unable to look away. Self-conscious but unwilling to tolerate the awkwardness any longer, Yona felt herself fall into a strange out of body experience as she leaned in and pressed a swift but chaste kiss on his cheek.

“Good night,” she squeaked, horrified with herself but unable to say anything else. 

All but sprinting up the stairs, she bolted into her room, door slamming behind her. She dove into her bed and pulled the blankets overhead. Forcing her eyes closed and ignoring the blood pumping in her ears, she exhaled shakily.

She didn’t sleep a wink that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all appreciate the awkwardness at the end and catch my tiny hints at house boys having fun without Yona in the background. I'm a sucker for hidden pairings but I particularly love how poor Hak has to deal with Yona's complete unawareness. More hidden pairings next chapter, keeps your eyes peeled!


	4. Hak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day with Hak: groceries, old arguments, and bathroom attendants

He didn't sleep much that night.

By the time he'd woken up, Yona had already left for an early shift at the flower shop. All for the best, he'd thought as he sleepwalked through the day. There was no guarantee he'd be able to form a genuine sentence in front of her right now, not unless it's was highly insulting and have no room to remember last night. It wasn't so much the kiss she'd planted in his cheek--he'd lived far too long as her friend to bother fashioning ideas about what that kiss really meant--but there was almost no way he could avoid replaying the way she looked. Her curly red hair, damp and sticking to her nightgown. The berry pink silk fabric that draped down her loosely, hanging just close enough that he didn't have to work hard to imagine what lay underneath. How the gown barely reached halfway down her thighs and the way the fabric began to stick to her skin after the drops from her hair soaked through, the temperature change beginning to affect--

"Thighs or breasts?"

Hak snapped back to reality, acutely aware of how hot his face felt. "Sorry, what?" 

"Did Yoon ask for chicken thighs or breasts?" Kija asked impatiently, motioning wildly towards the refrigerated meat before him. "You have the list, the least you could do is read it instead of daydream in the middle of the store. Honestly Hak, why did you come along if you aren't going to help?"

Hak scowled, repressing his urge to pick up the closest meat and shove it down Kija's sweater. Instead, he took a deep breath and dug around in his pocket until he could feel the crumpled notepad paper between his fingers. Pulling it out, he glanced over Yoon's scrawl.

"Breasts. Enough for all of us," he read loudly, his throat suddenly very dry. He cleared his throat before continuing. "He also wants us to pick up a very specific brand of barbeque sauce and ingredients for the salad."

"I don't really think it's fair for him to prepare his own birthday meal," Kija complained woefully, pulling out two large packets of chicken breasts and placing them into their shared shopping cart. "I know that none of us are comparable cooks, to begin with, but I still wish we could do something."

"If you want to do something, just let Yoon cook his meal. You can get him something to use instead."

"...I feel like a child who gets their mother something only the child benefits from for mother's day." 

Hak laughed quietly. "I know what you mean," he responded, following Kija as they made their way into the produce section. "Or like a husband that thinks the best gift for their wife is another cooking tool she can use to make him dinner."

"Exactly!" Kija exclaimed exasperatedly, reaching out to grab a head of lettuce from the display before continuing down the aisle. "I know he'd appreciate more kitchenware or even another apron, but aside from the kitchen being fully stocked, I don't feel it truly demonstrates my appreciation for all he does around the house."

They stopped in front of the section that laid out all the nightshade plants, tomatoes, and potatoes as far as the eye could see. Carefully selecting unblemished tomatoes into a bag, Kija audibly pondered on their situation. "I don't suppose I could buy him a book."

"He does like to read," Hak noted, following his own task of picking up carrots behind them. "But what book could you get for the man who has his own personal library?"

"I wish I could say I procrastinated on looking for a gift but honestly I couldn't think of a single gift to give him." Kija paused, tomato dropping from his hand and into the plastic bag with a loud plop. "Say, what did you give him?"

"Yona and I made cookies for him last night."

No, _he_ had mostly made cookies last night while Yona had sat on the counter, her bare legs dangling over the counter, the silk fabric of her gown bunched further up her thighs--

He made an effort to pick his vegetables faster and shove them into the cart. 

"I see…" Kija replied slowly, watching as Hak shoved the carrots deep into the cart as if burying the vegetables could possibly repress his own fantasies."I thought she was going to bed last night after I saw her in the hallway leaving the bathroom. I guess not."

"She helped prepare the pans," Hak continued tersely, turning back to pick up the next vegetable, blindly shoveling potatoes into the following produce bag. Kija continued observing, unsure as to whether or not ask Hak when he'd seen Yoon make a potato salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots.

"Did…something happen last night?"

"Nope. Nothing at all."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Completely."

It was widely known how stubborn Hak could be, should the moment call for it. Thus, Kija chose to let Hak continue funneling their grocery funds into a large (and overpriced) bag of handpicked potatoes, changing the topic at hand. "Is there anything else on the list?"

"Not really, but I'm going to pick up some snacks for myself." Hak dumped the bag into the cart. "I'll meet you at where they keep the barbeque sauce--wherever that is."

He brushed past Kija, ignoring the others’ complaints as he made a beeline for the frozen foods section. In particular, the ice cream freezer. Having spent at least a handful of birthday celebrations with Yoon (all birthdays, not just the one in question today), Hak was acutely aware of what would happen. Yoon would claim he didn’t want sweets, decide he would want some type of baked good, then declare it wasn’t really a complete dessert unless it came with ice cream. The cookies had the baked goods covered, but it was the ice cream Hak had nearly neglected up until this point. It wasn’t as if he needed the cool air to distract him from the awkward memory of last night, he thought to himself as he carefully looked down the aisle for something Yoon would approve of. Settling on a very simple brand of vanilla, he reached for the door handle only to have a hand collide against his. Startled, he looked to his right only to completely pull his hand back as if he’d been burnt.

“Oh. I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Soo-Won said, blinking as if he wasn’t sure Hak was really present in the store with him.

Hak said nothing, staring at his childhood friend in a mix of discomfort and confusion. On one hand, Yona had made it very clear that leaving had been her choice. On the other hand, she’d all but admitted that Soo-Won lied to her face about his own feelings. Finally, there was the predicament that was rolling back into his life in the face of last night, the thumping of his heart whenever he so much as thought about her face. And to top it all off, the source of her misery was standing in front of him, casually picking out what Hak knew to be Soo-Won’s favorite childhood flavor of ice cream. It also happened to be Yona’s.

Thankfully, Soo-Won knew Hak well enough to recognize that the narrowed glare pointed in his direction meant he’d done something incredibly wrong to earn Hak’s fury. 

“I take it Yona told you she decided to live elsewhere.” He was far too casual, placing a pint of the preferred flavor into his basket. His gaze easily looked up to meet Hak’s, undeterred. “What seems to be the issue then?”

“Why did you lie to her?” Hak half growled, hands clenching at his side. “She told you she liked you. You knew that. We’ve always known that. So why did you lie and say you didn’t like her back?”

This time it was Soo-Won’s turn to look surprised. “I honestly expected you to say something else,” he replied bluntly, head leaning to the side in genuine interest. Light brown hair cascaded against his shoulder, loose from his low tied style. “I didn’t lie--I told her I was flattered and once felt that way, but wasn’t sure how I felt now. I was honest Hak. I didn’t want her to live there with false expectations.”

Hak could have forgiven many things. Soo-Won choosing to lie about his feelings. Soo-Won lying to fabricate a fake relationship. Soo-Won forcing her out the door because she’d made him uncomfortable. 

Soo-Won telling her that she’d missed her window of opportunity, however, was not on the list of forgiven words.

Recalling that he was in a _very_ public place and _immensely_ close to losing his temper, Hak took a deep breath, exhaling painstakingly slowly as he worked to put his fury into comprehensible words. “Soo-Won. We’ve known each other since we were seven years old. I grew up with you. You know me, I know you, and we both know Yona. So tell me,” he exhaled the last words in an attempt to stay the growing urge to punch his friend in the face. “What kind of asshole tells someone spilling their heart out, ‘I felt that way before but I changed my mind’?”

“Well, I definitely didn’t state it that way,” Soo-Won replied calmly, too accustomed to Hak’s temper to truly be worried. The other customers around them however did not seem as confident, so perhaps it would be best to begin diffusing the situation. “I didn’t want to be dishonest Hak. I may not love Yona romantically anymore, but I do love her. I would be hardpressed to make her move in with me if she would have been suffering silently the whole time. You know her as well as I do--she would wait forever if she could.”

Being bullheaded was possibly her most endearing trait, Hak thought for a moment, feeling the tension leave his shoulders. “You’re serious?” He pushed, unconvinced.

Soo-Won smiled sadly. “I know I hurt her, but I really didn’t want to prolong her pain. I should have said something sooner, I know.”

“It’s not like you ever called to begin with,” Hak spat, the words tasting sour as he said them. “What would you know about prolonging her pain? You didn’t even show up to the funeral.”

Silence fell between them. Hak tried not to focus his own emotions. It wasn’t him after all who spent weeks crying for their parent, struggling to reconnect with the world, and still learning how to live in a world without him. All of this she had done, without Soo-Won. Soo-Won shuffled uncomfortably, basket shifting in his arm just enough to tip forward and spill the contents onto the floor. He gasped quietly, brow furrowing as he bent down to pick up the fallen groceries. Instinctively, Hak had bent down to assist, hands taking in the muscle memory that had been beaten into them since they were both children.

“You never stopped being clumsy, huh?” he muttered, though his voice lacked the anger he’d meant to put behind it. 

Soo-Won smiled, gratefully placing the basket onto the floor so they could easily replace the produce inside. “I suppose not,” he murmured. “And I suppose I deserved that.”

“You deserve a lot,” Hak replied darkly, lifting only his gaze emphasize his distaste. “But you don’t deserve her. And she doesn’t deserve you.”

Silently, Soo-Won took the final products from the floor and shifted the basket back onto his arm. “I know,” he replied softly, still smiling. He never stopped smiling. Brushing the dust from his pants (a futile attempt, given that it had all but glued itself to both their clothes), he shrugged cheerily. “I’m comfortable knowing she has you at least. You’ll make her happier than I ever could, once she realizes who it is she really loves.”

Hak had no reply, the rage burning in his chest too strongly for him to take in the words being spoken. An overwhelming urge to punch Soo-Won conflicted with his desire to shout at him, but none of that mattered because Kija was standing at the end of the aisle. Hak could see him calculating, taking in the scene piece by piece, brow furrowing as he puzzled together that something (or rather, someone) was not right. Rather than face the endless barrage of questions that would follow if he started a brawl in the middle of the store, Hak opted to take the more immediate option; leave.

“Don’t bother talking to me again,” he snapped dangerously, yanking the freezer door open and snatching the first ice cream he could reach. Letting the door slam behind him, he marched away. It didn’t matter what he said; he already knew Soo-Won wouldn’t bother finding him again.

After all, prior to today, Soo-Won hadn’t bothered speaking to him in over two years.

* * *

Yoon could tell something was off, Hak figured, given his furrowed expression over the grill as he cooked in the front yard. There were far too many potatoes (Hak had somewhat passed that off in a comment regarding the long pantry life of the tuber), but what really sealed the deal was his terrible selection of ice cream. To his friends’ credit, however, Yoon seemed to recognize Hak’s hesitance to speak and chose to bury himself into the task of grilling their meal. 

The same could not be said of Yona. 

Face contorting as she took another bite of the cherry-infused frozen treat, she shivered. “This is really gross,” she complained honestly, trying to disguise her smile behind an expression of disgust. Or maybe it was the other way around. Hak didn’t really blame her either way. “Why did you get this one?”

“Seemed like it would be a nice change,” he lied smoothly, never taking his eyes off Yoon as he gently kicked the swing bench they shared. It was easier to focus, ignoring Yona’s constant changing facial expressions, the way her eyes scrunched whenever she bit into a solid chunk of cherry. 

“Maybe in another household,” she replied, mouth tight as the tart flavor spread across her tongue. “I think we all agree that this should stay a cherry ice cream free household.”

He shrugged, turning forward to look at Yoon again. “If that’s how you feel.” 

Despite not looking at her, Hak knew she was frowning based on the tone of her voice as she spoke again. 

“Why _did_ you get this? You know what kind of ice cream Yoon likes.”

“Maybe I wanted to get a flavor for myself.”

He knew the answer wouldn’t satisfy her but he was too distracted to truly care. Instead, he continued rocking the swing bench, his calf starting to feel a slight burn from his outstretched and working foot. The rest of the household was playing a carefree game of volleyball in the empty street, taking advantage of the lack of traffic in the late afternoon. Occasionally, Yoon would shout something about taking care to avoid hitting the parked cars on the street, but otherwise, Hak relished the noise. Though he had no regrets moving out after having lived his whole life with his adopted family, there was a small part of him that had bristled at the thought of moving in with four strangers. While it was never peaceful and far too cramped, he’d grown from tolerating their presence to genuinely missing them when he was home alone. It helped that everyone seemed to gravitate around their two common threads--Yoon and Yona. 

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

He peered her way momentarily, catching a glimpse of her cherry dyed red lips before returning to his task of observing the street game. His heart tightened in his chest and for a moment he considered falling to his base instincts and kissing her the way he’d always wanted to since he was nine. Instead, he pulled his thoughts back to speaking.

“What is?”

“Everything,” she said softly, warmth in her voice. “I missed living with a family.” 

She froze, her feet falling to the floor, halting the swing in a way that made it dance uncomfortably beneath them. “Not that you, Mun-Deok and Tae-Yeon aren’t my family,” she corrected hastily, ice cream nearly dropping in her hurry. “I just meant--”

“It’s fine,” he whispered, eyes still glued to his friends. “I know what you mean. It’s home.”

Air escaped her slowly, relief. “Yeah...home…”

“Have you talked with him since then?” Yona turned up at him in surprise, the bench creaking under the shifting of her weight as she leaned away from him. “Soo-Won, I mean.”

She shrunk visibly, her whole body avoiding his as she fell silent. He could almost hear the cogs in her head working overtime, forming and reforming the words she wanted to say. “No,” she settled on, honesty lining her voice in a way only he could recognize. “I haven’t. I know you saw him though.”

Hak hummed his acknowledgment softly. “Kija told you?”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out,” she sighed, now using her own heels to rock the swing. “All Kija said was that you ran into someone at the store. I took that and your sourpuss face to mean it was probably someone you weren’t happy to see.”

She always good at reading his emotions--most of them, at least. 

“Hak, I--”

“I’ll be right back,” he mumbled, resting one hand on his knee for balance as he stood upright. “Gonna wash my hands before Yoon notices we skipped straight to dessert before he was done cooking.”

Ignoring her complaints, he easily stepped over her outstretched legs. He quickly entered the house and moved up the stairs, trying not to linger bitterly on her insightfulness. There was no point in wishing she’d noticed him before this and there was no point in wishing it now he thought as he reached the upstairs bathroom. Hak turned the knobs to let the water flow, not caring much about the water bill he’d have to pay after this as the water ran freely. The sound of the water and slow steam that rose centered his turmoil, giving him something vague to focus on outside his own issues.

Regardless of how he felt about her in the past (and even now, the present), what bothered him most was not Yona’s intuition. It was his lack of control when it came to Soo-Won. Soo-Won, the one who chose to leave for school without care about reaching out to his friends and family. Soo-Won, who had clearly read Hak’s texts the night Yona lost her father, the “read” indicator having lingered in his text log for months before Hak built up the sheer rage necessary to delete the message. Soo-Won, who appeared again after nearly a year of radio silence, nonchalantly walking back into their lives as if there were no misgivings to be had. 

All this and more left unsaid, things Hak had willingly and bitterly swallowed in response to Yona’s request. He remained silent as Yona moved back toward Soo-Won with renewed interest, respecting her wish to rekindle a forgotten friendship. It wasn’t as if he also hadn’t wished the same, he admitted to himself irritably. It was difficult to stay angry at someone who had also been trying to make the most of their adult life--though Soo-Won had 3 years ahead of them at that time, and back then Hak had little understanding of the difficulties that came with becoming an adult. Even now through all his resentment, what he’d once thought was abandonment he now understood to be a necessary and unavoidable fact of life that came when attending college, let alone supporting oneself through it. He could hardly blame Soo-Won for choosing to prioritize his future over his friends, knowing that he had no one to rely on but himself. 

And yet, here he was again. Resenting his _former_ best friend and hating himself for doing so. Hak ran the water between his hands, the warm liquid cascading between his fingers like small waterfalls. Whatever stickiness had remained on his skin was long gone at this point, but he didn’t feel like leaving yet. A soft knock at the door, however, let him know that someone else felt differently about his time in the bathroom.

Yona stood in the doorway, a small hand towel in hand and a smile gracing her features. “I figured you didn’t hear me earlier, but you forgot that all the towels are being washed right now. I got one of out of the dryer for you.”

He peered back over his shoulder. The towel rack hung empty behind him. “Huh, I guess you’re right.”

She laughed weakly. “I guess I shouldn’t have brought up something upsetting if I wanted you to talk to me, huh?”

Hak stared blankly in her direction, taking in every piece of her for as long as possible. He sighed, defeated. “I would talk to you about anything,” he replied calmly. “That is if I thought you would listen without getting food all over you.”

She huffed, a small blush flushing her cheeks. “I do not have food all over me.”

“You’re a messy eater,” he responded casually, twisting the crystal sink knobs until the water shut off. Shaking his hands of excess water, Hak made his way over to her. He lifted his hand, pressing a single finger to a spot on her face, just to the right of her mouth. “You have chocolate here--” he pressed another finger to a different spot “--and some cherry bits stuck here.”

Not easily defeated despite her mess, Yona straightened on the spot, shoulders rolling back to stretch her modest height. “Whatever, you’re the one who bought that gross ice cream. It’s not my fault that it sticks to everything,” she spoke back as if she didn’t have embarrassment written all across her face. Instead, she held out the towel with a cheeky smile. “Besides, I brought you a towel. I’m basically a bathroom attendant. I deserve a tip for my forward-thinking and generosity.”

Hak laughed. Her quickly fabricated bravado was endearing, just like the cherry red staining her lips and tongue. His heart faltered momentarily and for a brief second, Hak forgot everything about his day. Anger rushed out of him like a gust of air, replaced with nothing but the thought of her. Choosing to act more confidently than he felt, Hak leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth, tasting the aroma of chocolate cherry on her breath as he barely pulled away. Yona stood frozen in the doorway, arm stiff as he quickly wiped his hand dry with the towel that hung from them. He tilted his head so that he could whisper in her ear. 

“Thanks for the forethought.”

With that, he pulled away as if nothing had occurred, stepping around her rigid frame and back into the hallway. Yoon would be done with the meal soon. It would be a crime to make the birthday boy wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me longer than expected to write this but I REALLY wanted to write the bathroom attendant scene.
> 
> I always loved how upset Hak was over his ruined relationship with Soo-Won. A lot of it was how much he cared for Yona, but so much of it was his own feelings of betrayal. I hope she writes more about that in the story. I'm a sucker for emotional scenes. 
> 
> Also sorry for anyone who likes that ice cream but I am of the firm opinion that frozen chunks of fruit don't belong in ice cream. On ice cream, yes. Inside it? Eugh.


	5. Flowers and Hairties

“So what did you do next?”

Yona looked up from the bottom of the raised garden bed, buried hands damp and cold from the wet dirt that caked her older gardening gloves. Confused, she gestured for more information with a slight tilt of her head. Lili huffed impatiently, balancing the gardening tools in one hand and two nursery plants in another. Watching the plants sway precariously in her grasp, Tetora reached over her arm and gently removed the plants before they could topple over. Lili ignored her.

“What happened? He kissed you!”

“I don’t think you can call a kiss on the cheek a real kiss,” Yona answered carefully, fingers clenching and unclenching in the safety of the soil. The soft nursery soil was comforting, encasing her hand in constant but welcome gentle pressure. “It’s like what you do when you say goodbye to a relative, even a friend really.”

“You can’t possibly tell me that you stood there and did nothing.”

Yona shrugged weakly, cheeks slowly warming to betray her. Turtling into the high collar of her fleece sweater, she dug back into the soil with renewed strength. Cupping out some dirt, she held open the hole with one hand while the other sought out the prepped nursery plant beside her. “I mean, yeah I guess,” she replied quietly as she lowered her head back towards the garden bed, nestling the plant into place before brushing small amounts of soil over the roots, so as to not harm the growing plant. “Like I said, it wasn’t really a kiss anyway, he was just thanking me for being considerate. I don’t really get it but he’s weird sometimes like that.”

The heavy sigh behind her served as an obvious clue that Lili did not agree, if not a given away by the way she all but slumped onto the ground beside her. The metal tools that sat in her garden apron clanged loudly against the brick floor, but Lili didn’t seem to care, instead, taking in a deep breath as if to calm her frustrations. “Okay then, answer me this. Why did you kiss him first?”

Despite the cooling October air, Yona felt her face warm up as it had been in the summer sun. Even her hands no longer felt the coolness of the soil. “I did not,” she answered hotly, though the wavering in her voice did nothing to assuage the growing butterflies in her stomach. “I panicked--that doesn’t count.”

“Yes, because whenever someone notices me nipping through a sheer blouse my immediate reaction is to kiss them too.”

Somewhere behind them Ayura and Tetora made stifled sounds mixed with horror and laughter. “ _ Lili--” _

Lili brushed them off calmly, waving her hand dismissively over her shoulder before reclaiming Yona’s full attention. “Seriously. Why so embarrassed? I’ve never seen the guy before but from what you tell me, he’s no stranger to getting some action. You could learn to live a little.”

Yona scowled, channeling her discomfort into her work with the flowerbed instead. The idea of Hak getting any sort of action made her stomach twist uncomfortably. “I am living a little,” she grunted, fingers punctuating each word with a jab into the dirt. “I basically live in a fraternity at this point.”

“Please be gentle with the flowers,” called Yun-Ho softly from behind them, her sandals clicking against the brick flooring as she entered the main store. “They can feel when you’re angry, you know. Gardening can be therapeutic but we should still strive to take good care of our flowery friends.”

Yona turned around, abashed. While Yun-Ho was immensely kind and forgiving, this was her first job. To upset not only her boss but the primary owner of a local store felt indescribably wrong. Not to mention her boss was  _ heavily _ pregnant and didn’t need the added stress of dying products in her store. “I’m so sorry--”

“There, there,” Yun-Ho laughed. “I heard the whole thing on the way in. You’ve only been here a few weeks--we all know better than to give our gossip away to Lili. She’s an excellent listener but she’ll pester you for details until the sun’s gone down.”

Lili rolled her eyes beside her, unperturbed. “I just think you should be honest with yourself and agree with me that you think your friend is hot.”

“You don’t even know him,” Tetora called out from the backroom. “Stop bothering her and come back here. We have a delivery to make around the corner and you said that you wanted to show Yona the ropes for our regular orders.” 

Yona exhaled an audible sigh of relief as she watched Lili dash off to the backroom. Ayura and Tetora were busy creating the flower arrangements that would go out today. Rising to her full height, Yona winced under the quiet creaking of her knees. Yun-Ho tsked from behind the counter across the room, beckoning Yona to come closer. “That is exactly why I tell all you younger girls to grab one of the stools behind the counter when you work!” she chided, struggling to tap the cushioned stool beside her. “You’re going to ruin your knees before you even had the chance to enjoy them!”

“I couldn’t possibly use one,” Yona insisted, motioning towards Yun-Ho’s full belly. “You need it more than I do--and don’t you say I can afford to take one! You need the other to rest your feet!”

Yun-Ho laughed warmly, hand resting on her stomach while the other sought out the balance of the counter as she plopped onto the seat behind her. “I suppose I cannot argue with that. Either way, the offer remains.” She grimaced slightly as she adjusted to sit more comfortably on the cushion before continuing. “I believe that the arrangements you’re delivering with Lili are the last ones we have for today. Those arrangements will be going out to a local salon down the street from here. We have a regularly scheduled delivery there. Lili will help you set up the arrangements and after that, you’ll be free to go home for the day.”

“Are you sure? I could stay and help a little longer.”

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll be closing right after you two leave. My husband and I agreed that now that I’m getting closer to the due date, we should start closing the store earlier to rest. We’ll be fine; Tetora and Ayura can help me close for the day.”

Unconvinced but unwilling to make a poor impression, she nodded before leaving. Lili was already at the door with a small wagon in hand, bouncing impatiently for what Yona knew would be a long walk filled with more pestering and gossip. When the door closed behind them, Lili instantly jumped back into their previous conversation, halting only when Yona chose to speak over her words.

“I am  _ not _ about to take advice from someone who has a massive crush on our pregnant boss’s husband.”

Lili remained undeterred, somehow emboldened further by those words. “I have no shame in appreciating beautiful people when they happen to be in my life--acting and appreciating are two very different things.”

“So you’re telling me that if he left his wife and unborn child, you wouldn’t jump on him the first chance you had?”

She ignored the question, shifting the weight of the wagon’s handle to her free hand. “I’d much rather know about what you intend to do about your little love triangle.”

“I can hardly call it a love triangle when one person already told me they weren’t interested and the other is  _ definitely _ not interested.” She felt a soft pang in her heart as the memory of Soo-Won’s words floated through her memory. Throat tightening, she focused on the sunset on the horizon. “It doesn’t matter. I should be focusing on getting my life together anyways.”

“Who said you can’t do both?”

“Don’t act like you’re older and wiser--you’re a year younger than me.”

Her coworker grinned maniacally, a skip in her step as they crossed an open street. “I’m just saying, I think you should put more thought into this. I’m sure there’s a way to be happy and successful. Based on what you’ve told us, I think you can do that with bird boy.”

“Hak, not hawk.”

“Whatever.”

The rest of their brief walk remained silent, only the sound of the wagon wheels echoing between them. Lili pointed at the shop doors at the end of the street, increasing her pace. “It’s just over there,” she said, grabbing Yona’s free hand and pulling her along. “You’ll be alright. Gi-Gan is a regular. Her salon helps us advertise for weddings and whatnot since most of her clients are there to get dolled up before a big event.”

Throwing the door open with shocking strength, Lili dragged her into the store with an enthusiastic grin stamped on her face. “Good afternoon everyone!”

While Yona thought herself a broad-minded when it came to gender stereotypes, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat surprised at the predominantly male staffed salon. Most of the men seemed to know Lili, shouting in response for a brief reprieve of their task. An older woman at the counter stopped writing into the black planner spread out before her, Jae-Ha looking up in tandem with her. “Oh, it’s you.”

“I didn’t know you worked here,” Yona blurted out, instantly realizing how stupid she sounded.  _ Of course, _ he worked here. Jae-Ha had been the one who helped her find work downtown, walked her from the house, and to the places she’d applied at, demonstrating how easily she’d be able to navigate her way to work without a car. She  _ knew _ he was a hairstylist and she  _ knew _ he also worked downtown. Thankfully, Jae-Ha remained unconcerned with her poor perception skills, handing over his schedule to his boss. 

“I do spend the least amount of time at home,” Jae-Ha responded casually, leaning over the counter. He pulled his hair over his shoulder, twisting his neatly tied ponytail trailing in thoughtful circles. “I wasn’t aware you worked for Miss Yun-Ho either. I knew you had applied to a flower shop, but honestly, it slipped my mind that her store is the only flower shop downtown. Though, I suppose I could have just asked.”

Yona smiled reassuringly, allowing Lili to slip past her with the flower arrangements in hand, wagon waiting outside. She exclaimed in surprise as Lili shoved the flowers into her chest, careful not to damage the petals before pushing her forward. “Hey, we still have a job to do.”

“She’s right,” Jae-Ha said, nudging his boss teasingly. “Gi-Gan is a tough customer, so you better get this right.”

Gi-Gan stared down at her coldly as she approached, hand fiddling with the pen in her hand, tapping it back and forth against the planner. “Well, then?”

Yona swallowed nervously, acutely aware of how inexperienced she had made herself seem. Regardless, she pushed her shoulders back and straightened up, determined to look her client in the eye. “Good afternoon, we have your order here. Is there anywhere specific you would like us to place these? We would be happy to arrange the flowers for you.”

Ignoring Jae-Ha's amused snicker, Gi-Gan nodded sternly, motioning for Yona to follow her to the back end of the salon. Following her motions, Yona and Lili set to work, going back and forth from the front to the back of the store carrying the decorative flowers to be placed throughout the salon. Overall, it took them half an hour between the two, Yona’s back aching from the constant bending over to lift the heavy glass vases needed for housing the bouquets. Despite that, satisfaction flowed through her, revitalizing her energy when Gi-Gan gave her a nod of approval. 

“You did okay for your first job,” she complimented, the glint in her eye the only sign of a job well done. “Next time you should come alone. Show us how quickly you get to work then.”

“Leave her alone Gi-Gan, it’s her first job,” Jae-Ha complained.

“I don’t remember cutting you any slack when you started working here.”

“Ah--well. I suppose not.”

“I can take the cart back,” Lili offered, smiling peacefully in her coworker’s direction. “There really isn’t much to deliveries after setup--Gi-Gan’s such a regular that we just keep her on a tab. It’s mostly the grunt work for setup and that’s all over, so you can stay and hang out if you’d like.”

“My store is not a place for relaxation, it’s a place to rejuvenate and empower.” Gi-Gan tapped Yona from behind with her pen. “Beauty care goes far. My salon helps build confidence in clients. It is not a place for you to ‘hang out’.”

Jae-Ha snickered, still filling out the planner at the counter. “She sounds dramatic, but she’s right. You can’t stay if you aren’t planning to at least get something done. I don’t think that’s a bad idea though.”

“What is?” Yona asked, distracted by Lili waving goodbye to all the employees on her way out.

“Getting a little makeover,” Jae-Ha clarified. “Not for free, but I’m sure we could do something to help you relax after a day of work.”

“I don’t know--”

“Why not?” Jae-Ha interjected. His body language shifted from professional to friendly, arms folding onto the counter, leaning towards her. His eyes softened, patiently awaiting her response. She hesitated, unsure of what exactly she'd been about to say. 

Before her father died she'd spent most of her high school life fighting to catch Soo-Won's attention in any way she possibly could. Her nails were perfectly filed and filled, hair preened and proper, and her skin glowing and glamoured. After his death, she stopped, too grief-stricken to consider paying any mind to her appearance. Even when she'd considered moving in with Soo-Won, she'd still been so wrapped up in getting her life together there had been little time to consider her daily routines outside of meals and the occasional weather determined outfit. Still, going back to her original routine felt…wrong, she thought, arms folding across her chest as she considered her response. 

"I'm not sure," she decided, fingers tapping the sides of her arms in thought. "I mean, it's not like I don't do basic self-care, it's just been a while since I've really used any makeup or something special. I used to do this all the time."

"Ah, so you need a new routine. Get rid of the old and start fresh," Jae-Ha responded, motioning for Gi-Gan to clear out a chair in the back. He beckoned his roommate towards the chair, a sly smile slowly spreading across his face. "I know the perfect thing."

Yona followed obediently, nerves simmering on her skin as she took a seat in the plush leather chair. She searched for some reassurance in the mirror before her, unsure what was going to happen but determined to try something new. Jae-Ha had a full-blown smile on his face at this point, leaning over her shoulder and staring at her through the mirror knowingly before beginning the task of wrapping tissue paper around her neck and under her hairline. Flipping her long hair up, he used his free hand to bring the hairdressing cape around her shoulders. Fingers slowly and meticulously running through her flowing hair to identify knots, he hummed quietly.

"Relax. Trust me. I'm good at what I do."

* * *

Adjusting to the loss of almost seventy-five percent of her hair was a hard but not unwelcome feeling. Subconsciously throughout the rest of her evening, she found herself reaching up to feel nothing but air, the true length of her bright red hair now lingering just below her earlobes. Jae-Ha really was good at this job, given how nicely he'd styled her curly, unruly hair. Up until today, she'd never considered having short hair, convinced it would be a puffy birds nest. After today, she'd be hard-pressed to consider any other style. 

Though it had been late in the afternoon, after her haircut, Yona had gone directly to the campus library in order to meet with Yoon and Shin-Ah for a cram session. Given that Kija worked at the library, it made finding necessary studying materials that much easier, leaving more room for studying and less time navigating the narrow aisles. Eventually, each one left; Shin-Ah leaving to attend an evening class and Yoon running off to attend a make-up lab. Thus, Yona was left behind, humoring Kija at the main library service counter.

"You should really go home," he said seriously, eyes scrutinizing the dark circles under her eyes. "You've been up since five in the morning--way longer than any of us. You don't have to wait for me to get off work."

"Even if I left now, I would still need to wait for the bus," Yona replied tiredly, hand instinctively reaching up to play with her absent hair again. "I don't really want to wait outside alone. I can wait for you."

"While I agree that I'd rather not have you wait alone, I also don't want you passing out from exhaustion right." He explained worriedly, considering the usual options available to them.

"I want to walk home with you."

"I don't get out until midnight, you're going home," he responded coldly, though the usual bite in his tone was absent. He reached for the work phone, quickly dialing an extension code he'd memorized after years of working late nights at the front desk. "Go wait out front, I'm calling security to escort you to the bus stop."

"That's not necessary, I'll be fine--"

"I'm not stupid Yona, I know you're going to try and walk home by yourself. It's October! You didn't even bring a coat. Just let me call campus security, they can give you a ride out the entrance at least, that'll save you some time--"

Yona brushed him off, feeling strangely confident as she felt the air waft around her neck. She hated to admit it, but Gi-Gan and Jae-Ha were right; a simple haircut had done wonders for her self esteem. She grinned, suddenly full of energy and enthusiasm. "You know, I changed my mind. I think I'll walk home today. Bye!"

She wasn't sure but she was somewhat convinced that she heard Kija try to scramble over the counter as she exited the library. The walk home was cool, the October air chilling her bare neck, goosebumps forming down her back. About halfway down the campus hill, she began to question how thoroughly she'd considered Kija's offer, uncomfortably aware of how the moonlight made the trees look over the dimly lit path. It was rather late, and while there were others walking about, she distinctly recalled that her campus had a history of attracting very strange people after hours. Suddenly struck by the realization she was actually committing to walking home by herself, she spun around on her heel and started back up the hill. It was almost nine, so the library would still be open and maybe if she begged hard enough, Kija would forgive her false bravado and actually call that little security car she’d seen rolling around campus from time to time. It was that or wait for Kija to get off work--Yoon had made it clear he was going to borrow Shin-Ah for a late-night study group in an apartment that neighbored the university and would not be back until late. Sometimes she envied not having someone in the house who shared her schedule--or even at work really. Lili wasn’t a terrible company, but it was hard to befriend someone who spent her off-hours galavanting across town on wild adventures. 

Maybe something worth trying, Yona thought toying with the idea briefly before the wind rattled the dead leaves on the trees and she felt a stronger force push her faster uphill. Her lungs ached and her legs wobbled from the strain of a long day (or possibly being vaguely out of shape), but the same strength that had backed her confidence earlier was now shoving her adrenaline into overdrive. Wheezing slightly as she approached the staircase that led into the library, she took a moment to lean against the concrete statue adorning the foot, cold air forcing her throat to contract as she inhaled. 

“I’ve never seen someone book it that fast up that hill.”

She froze.

She would know that voice anywhere. Still bent over and out of breath, she slowly turned to look at Hak. He stood behind her, unimpressed and oddly stern in his uniform. It was dark, given that the library streetlamps only lit the landing and nothing before the first three steps, but even shadowed in the October gloom and clad in nearly all black, she would recognize him anywhere. Given by the smirk she could basically hear behind his words, he recognized her too.

“Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen  _ you _ move that fast. I didn’t think it was possible, what with you being waited on hand and foot your whole life. I don’t think you even got more than a D in gym class during high school.”

“Shut up,” she wheezed, struggling to put the usual venom in her voice beyond the fight for air. “I got a C and you know it.”

“I still think the teacher pitied you. You couldn’t even run the mile to meet the cut off time. It was fifteen minutes Yona. That was the bare minimum.”

“I tripped!”

“Excuses,” he dismissed, leaning back into a casual stretch, back popping audibly in the process. “Well, this was fun and all, but I should head back to patrolling. Someone radioed in saying they needed a safety escort for a girl over at the library, but I’ve been here almost ten minutes and she hasn’t shown.”

In a moment of clarity despite her oxygen-deprived brain, Yona recalled Hak mentioning he had started a security night job in late August. It had just never occurred to her that he was working that job on campus, nor that it was likely she would run into him at some point. Then, almost simultaneously, it dawned on her that the call had been about her but there was no way she could bring that up without admitting she’d run off in the naive belief she could walk the full forty-five-minute walk home by herself in the dark. He would never let her live it down. It would only feed his life-long belief that she was a spoiled brat--not to mention the entire house would know. 

“That’s a shame,” she attempted coolly. Probably would have been more effective had she more air in her lungs and looked less like a female lead who just escaped an attempted murder in a horror film. There was no way she could straighten up yet, not unless she wanted to risk fainting from the blood rushing to her head. “I could use a ride down to the house--that is if you were even trusted to drive one of those campus cars.”

“That would be more insulting if I drove like you--or didn’t drive like you, more like it.”

Insults would be more pointed if she could breathe and didn’t drag herself in the process. 

“I don’t think a marathon runner like you really needs a ride anyways. Looks to me you could use the endurance training.”

Irate, she leaned up slightly, hand balancing the rest of her body on the round statue. “Not everyone is built like a truck like you are--”

Spots flashed in her eyes, making her blink. She could hazily see Hak’s mouth moving, his brow furrowing with concern then flashing to alarmed, but a high pitch noise was echoing in her ears now, disrupting whatever was being voiced at her. Wobbly, she slumped to her left, head dropping at an alarming rate towards the concrete orb. Eyes closing for a moment, she registered the warmth of Hak’s hand coming between her head and the architectural sculpture. Jarred just enough to catch her breath again, she blinked weakly, only vaguely aware of nausea tumbling in her stomach, a rowboat caught in a storm.

“Are you alright?” He was so concerned it was almost heartwarming, had she forgotten that his teasing was the reason she’d gotten light-headed in the first place. 

“‘M fine,” she mumbled, eyes scrunching closed so she could concentrate on steadying the oxygen flow into her body. 

“You aren’t that out of shape,” he said softly, slowly moving her into a seated position on the stair. The sound of the door behind them and slow side steps to her right alerted Yona that people were still leaving the library. She was too tired to be embarrassed. Besides, the ground felt nice and cool, and her cheeks felt unbearably hot all of a sudden. “Or did you not breathe on your way uphill?”

“I did, I’m just tired.”

“Overworked, you mean.”

She grunted a complaint. “That sounds lame.”

“You haven’t had a job before. This is the third week in a row that you’ve worked the early morning shift in addition to every weeknight shift. You come straight here after work to help Yoon and Shin-Ah study,” Hak listed off flatly. “You’re overworked.”

Maybe it was her sheer exhaustion. Maybe it was because deep down, she knew he was right. Maybe, and more convincingly to herself, it was the tightness that refused to release from the back of her throat. So instead of arguing like she desperately wanted to, Yona nodded. Poor choice. The lights danced again and her hearing blinked in and out. Through that all, she managed to hear Hak mumble something incoherent before scooping her up into his arms. Vaguely aware of her surroundings, she managed to map out his walk away from the library and into the glorified golf cart that had been deemed worthy of a career in university security. She felt herself be cautiously shuffled into the cart with Hak, then gently laid down beside him, her head awkwardly spun around to lay flat on the cushion while her legs were lifted onto his lap.

“This isn’t comfortable,” she managed to grumble, voice muffled through the leather seat. She tried hard not to think about the many rears that had been seated there before.

“If you don’t want to faint, I wouldn’t recommend moving. You need to keep your legs elevated.”

“Gym rat.”

He chose to ignore her, based on the vibrating rumble beneath her head. The vehicle moved uncomfortably beneath her, head pounding and stomach roiling with each small crack in the pavement they hit. “This is terrible,” she chuckled painfully, regretting each word as the bile in her throat threatened to rise up. “How can you stand driving this thing?”

“Easy. It pays my bills.”

Mercifully, the cart came to a stop a few moments later. Somewhere at her feet, as if listening through a wall of water, she could hear tiny electronic feedback, suspiciously like someone was texting. “Where are we?”

“We are parked at the mid-campus street entry and you are waiting patiently while I text Yoon and Shin-Ah so they can come to take you home.”

“I’m not some drunk sorority girl, Hak. I’m just a little light-headed, I can walk back once I rest a bit.”

“I won’t stop you if you get off the cart, but I also won’t stop Yoon from grounding you when he finds you back home.”

That was enough incentive, despite wanting to retort that Yoon held no power over her. It was a flat lie and she acknowledged it. Very few people held that kind of grip over her actions still. She wasn’t about to bite the literal hand that fed her. Still, guilt crept up her throat to replace the slowly dissipating bile. “He’s supposed to be studying tonight,” she complained weakly. “I can try to help but that’s nothing like a real study group. He’s the smartest one, it’s not fair for me to drag him down just because I was stupid and ran up a hill in the cold.”

“You’re always doing stupid things though.”

“Not the moment,” she growled, opening her eyes just enough to glare in Hak’s general direction. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah yeah, he’s the smartest and brightest of us all. Got here on multiple scholarships, going to outdo us all one day.”

“At least one of us needs to graduate.” She smiled weakly, her headache starting to subside. Hak looked down at her thoughtfully, the light from his phone illuminating his face in bright blue. He smiled back, not a hint of sarcasm to be found.

“You’re right about that,” he replied, shutting off the screen before slipping it back into his pocket. “He’ll definitely make it out before us at this rate.”

“He didn’t take a year off.” She grunted as she slowly sat up, feet swinging off Hak’s lap and onto the hard cart floor. Her head hung low, an attempt to ebb the effects of what she knew threatened to be another lightheaded moment. “He was going to make it out before us anyways.”

“Probably would have made it out before even then. I’m pretty sure he took summer courses, not to mention the advanced classes in high school. We never stood a chance.”

“That’s our mom, never stops to take a break,” she joked half-heartedly. Self-pity bit back again. “If he can do it, why can’t I? And don’t say I was spoiled.”

Hak exhaled, words taken from his lips before he could air them. Instead, he leaned back in the seat. “I wouldn’t say that he doesn’t take a break,” he began carefully, eyes pointedly staring at the canopy roof of the vehicle. “He just knows how to manage his time effectively. He’s a natural at it. You need practice.”

She stared at him blankly, caught off guard by his candid response. For once, she had no argument to shoot back. “You’re right. I don’t.”

“Humble words, coming from you.”

She should have expected he wouldn’t stay straight forward for long. Rolling her eyes, Yona turned to face the front entirely, working up the strength to exit the cart. “Whatever, I’m just going to wait for Yoon over by the gate. You can leave.”

“I can’t.”

“Seriously Hak, you can go if you’re just going to be a jerk--”

“No, I mean I can’t. It’s my job. I can’t leave until you get into Yoon’s car. I called you in as an escort out a friend earlier, didn’t you hear me on the radio?”

She had not, in fact, jaw clenching and lips pursing as she realized Hak was serious. Exhaling loudly, she fell back into the seat, head rolling onto the painfully low back of her seat. “Can’t wait to get home…”

“Agreed. I'm working until 3 am.”

“It’s not a competition Hak. We already established I’m overworked and inept. No need to rub it in.”

“I didn’t mean--ugh.” He leaned against the wheel, arms crossed and hands gripping his biceps. His brow was furrowed, bangs hanging over the tips of his eyelashes but he made no motion to move what Yona could only consider was very uncomfortable. His head turned from hers, face buried into his shoulder. “Whatever. Doesn’t matter.”

His shift in tone piqued her interest. “Wait no, what did you mean?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“Hak,” she pleaded, leaning towards him in her seat. “What did you mean?”

He turned back, staring intently over his shoulder, his gaze meeting hers for a painful length of time before speaking quietly into his sleeve. She frowned, unable to hear anything aside from her own name. “What did you say?”

His brow deepened its furrow in what she assumed was a grimace beneath his arm. A loud horn interrupted their moment, however, followed by Yoon’s irritated yell.

“You better not faint walking over here or I’m going to shove a protein bar down your throat every day from here on out!”

The pair snickered, simultaneously facing the back end of the cart to avoid having Yoon spot their smiles. Arms relaxed and at his side now, Hak sighed in what Yona could only assume was exhaustion. “I guess my ride is here,” she stated, resigned with the fact that Yoon would entirely hold his end of the deal if she didn’t walk over to his car in anything but the straightest of lines. Shin-Ah didn’t seem that far off from doing something drastic either, now that she took a longer glance at his own worried expression. They were so dramatic sometimes.

Pulling away, she reached for the small purse by her feet that had somehow made it into the cart as well, mentally thanking herself for only bringing the bare essentials today. Hak’s hand interrupted her grasp, palm engulfing her petite wrist. She flinched, unable to look away from his unreadable expression. “Hak?”

“You said you would call.”

Oh. That.

“I didn’t mean that you’re weak. I meant you should call. I would leave work for you.”

She shook her head, short hair tickling the tip of ears as it bounced freely. “That’s ridiculous Hak, you’d get in trouble.”

“I’d call in sick for you. I’d go in late or leave work early if you wanted me to walk you home.”

Out of words, she sat there, mouth agape. He leaned closer still, the cool air nothing compared to the warmth from his rough hand. Yona was suddenly vaguely aware that they were leaning further and further below the dashboard, slowly disappearing from the other car’s sight. Yoon flashed his lights at them impatiently, the light flickering lower and lower on the leather seats as they sunk down together uncomfortably. She licked her lips nervously, eyes jumping from his mouth to his eyes, unable to decide where it was safest to look. “Don’t be stupid, you’ll lose your job.”

“I’d rather lose that than you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she replied, dumbfounded. Her back echoed the aches from work earlier in the day but she couldn’t find a reason to lean up again. Somewhere between this, she’d placed her other hand over his wrist, as if playing a juvenile game of hand stacking. Even her shoulders burned at this point and yet she remained frighteningly still.

“It’s not safe out at night,” he mumbled, though his tone spoke to anything but shyness. “You have a bad habit of making poor decisions.”

“You don’t have to be my keeper.”

“You don’t need one--” he hesitated-- “but I’d still come running if you asked.”

She could practically feel his breath on her face, the tips of their noses pressed lightly to each other. In the back of her head, through the blood pumping in her ears, she heard Lili’s words echo. 

_ You could learn to live a little. _

Without another thought, she leaned forward and pressed her lips flush against his. Whatever doubts she’d swallowed dissipated when Hak met her kiss with equal fire, opening his mouth slightly and tilting his head to deepen the kiss. Hands released each other, Yona’s reaching out to steady herself on the bench while he reached up to cup her face. His fingers toyed lightly with her trimmed hair, and she felt him hungrily pull at her lower lip. Eager, she let her weight drop entirely on her supporting arm and melted into the passionate kiss, lips only separating when they broke for air. She would have probably gone back for more, except her arm was beginning to numb within its locked position and she could hear Yoon honk the horn again in rapid-fire beats. 

“Hurry up! I’m parked illegally! Again! This only ever happens when you need me to pick you up, I’ll have you know!”

Chest heaving from a very different lack of air intake, Yona swallowed, eyes locked with his. She could feel her face was flushed but there was no more exhaustion left in her. He released her face, arms dropping and sitting up straight to wave at Yoon as if nothing had happened. His face wasn’t even red like she was  _ definitely _ bound to be, no heaving of his chest to signal that he was just as breathless as her. Unsure of what to make of his reaction, she quickly reached down and yanked the bag up into her lap. She muttered a goodbye as she jumped out of the security cart, swiftly making her way into the back of Yoon’s car, door slamming shut behind her. She tried to avoid thinking about how she could  _ feel _ Shin-Ah staring at her from over his shoulder, highly conscious of how her cheeks betrayed her forced casualness. Yoon sighed, exasperated as his own door swung closed, hands tapping the steering wheel before turning look over his shoulder, ready to back out onto the street again. Catching her wide-eyed stare, he frowned.

“You alright? You look pretty pale.”

“I’m fine,” she squeaked, wedging herself between the seat and the door, opting to look out the window despite Yoon’s scrutinizing stare. “Let’s go home, I’m tired.”

She said nothing for throughout the rest of the drive home. Any lingering questions about what had happened would have to wait until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk about y'all but I always find a new (good) haircut to be vaguely empowering. I miss haircuts.


	6. Where He Stood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok let's be real. The tags are slowburn and comfort/hurt. 
> 
> We're all here for the feels and torture. Let's admit it, embrace it, and sally forth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to 123eu; wrote some background couple for ya. Why live in a house with six other roommates if you can't have a little fun from time to time. Did you know I originally planned for this to be a harem one-shot? Not saying I have regrets but I do wonder where that would have taken us.

_ “I’d rather lose that than you.” _

There wasn’t a coherent string of thoughts left in him after that.

Three hours later, only with the shove of a coffee cup being jammed into his ribcage did he begin to form actual simple sentences. A change that Algira and Vold were quick to point out, the former pushing the styrofoam cup around Hak’s bicep, as if playing with a cup of steaming hot coffee was anything but dangerous.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been off ever since--”

Coherent thought eluded him again, drifting off into a turbulent stream of horror, ecstasy, and apprehension. Whatever followed was promptly ignored in favor of a fresh cup of coffee, barely acknowledging the common favor that was granted the night security team in exchange for patrols well into the early morning hours. Blindly grasping the cup, he drained the cup in one semi-painful draught, shoving it back into Algira's expecting hand before turning back to his paperwork. For every follow up to a report on campus, a paper one was expected to follow, complete with details, names, and contact information. Yona's name stared at him blatantly, printed neatly across the top of the report sheet, the rest of the details still empty. His pen tapped furiously against the back of his hand, staring at the next prompts on his report.

_ Time and date of the incident: _

_ Incident: _

_ Persons involved in the incident: _

_ Description of the incident: _

_ Actions Taken: _

The coffee in his empty stomach rumbled uncomfortably, pen dropping onto the table. Algira glanced from the form to Hak and then back to the form. “You know if it’s giving you that much trouble you can always fill it out later.” 

“Don’t listen to him, he’s terrible at writing reports. Better to write while it’s still fresh,” Vold interjected from across the table, opting to slowly enjoy his caffeine before his break was over. 

_ “I’d rather lose that than you.” _

Hak resisted the urge to groan, rolling the pen between his palm and the table instead. However Yona had chosen to interpret it, those words had been blurted out in the heat of the moment--a moment he was very happy to avoid reliving for the time being. Now that he had time to sit and simmer in the very likelihood of being  _ fired _ over his choice to make out with his childhood crush while on the job...it was a little less passionate than he’d made it out to be three hours ago. Skin crawling under his coworkers’ scrutinizing gaze, his mouth once again moved before his brain had a chance to catch up.

“Have you ever...done something you weren’t supposed to on the job?”

Algira spat his coffee across the paperwork laden table. Vold grimaced, calmly pulling his own neatly piled stack closer to himself, away from the soppy mess. “You’ll have to be a little more specific than that if you don’t want Algira here to keep imagining something a lot dirtier than you intended.”

Hak frowned, weighing his options. On one hand, he was completely uncomfortable and unwilling to have the conversation he was about to have but on the other, he was also cognizant that the discussion would be immensely worse with Jae-Ha, the only person he could consider confiding to. Given that Vold was technically his superior in terms of years worked, this could essentially be the end of his career here. It wouldn’t be unusual or unexpected for Vold to report this straight to Kouren, their acting superior, and it wasn’t like he expected to get out of this completely free of some type of consequence. Wanting to keep his job and wanting to stay right by his morals were on completely different scales; even if it meant he’d probably have to go job hunting after this. 

Picking the later of his poisons, he toying with his pen as he finally spoke. “I’m not going to beat around the bush--I made out with the girl from that call I took earlier. I know I was on duty, I know she was in my care and I abused that time by doing so, so I’m trying to figure out how to write this in a way where Kouren doesn’t feel obligated to bother the girl tomorrow morning by making her feel like it’s her fault I’m about to lose my job.”

Vold stared blankly, blinking furiously as though Hak were about to vanish from his chair. 

“Sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Yeah,” Algira added slowly. “That’s...a little out of character for you. Wasn’t this a call about someone who wasn’t feeling well? As much as I like you if you’re about to get all sexist and ‘she wanted it’ on us-”

Suddenly hearing it from their point of view, Hak shook his head furiously. “No--I mean--It was my roommate--childhood friend--Yona, she ran up that hill and almost fainted--I didn’t mean to kiss her, she kissed me--”

Succumbing to the groan in his throat, at last, he buried his face into his palms. “Yona is the girl I live with. She’s also my childhood friend. She ran up the hill, got winded, and nearly fainted. I called it in, drove her to the exit where I called our roommates to pick her up. She kissed me before she left. I didn’t plan on it happening on the job.”

“But you kissed back,” Vold continued, arms now crossed over his chest. “And now you have to write this in your report for Kouren to read, knowing she’s going to skin your hide for it.”

“I don’t get it,” Algira blurted, utterly confused. “You’re like a brick wall. What did you do that turned a regular job into a make-out session? I can only imagine a damsel in distress situation where she kissed you out of gratitude because otherwise, you have the emotional appeal of a cactus.”

Well, there was hardly an argument to be made there; Hak had to pat himself on the back for becoming a master of repressed emotions over the last decade and a half. “I should probably just call Kouren and tell her what happened; I won’t be able to sleep if I just write the report.”

Vold shrugged, pushing his chair back as he leaned behind him to dial his supervisor. “Suit yourself, but you’re going on speakerphone or you’re going to dig a deeper hole than you really need.”

One he probably deserved, Hak thought bitterly. For all his deep-rooted hatred of assholes who abused their position of power, the irony of his situation was not lost on him. The sound of Kouren’s voice interrupted his train of thought, Algira leaning over the table and onto the still coffee soaked papers, intrigued.

_ “I’m out of my house, so make it quick. What is it?” _

“Hey Kouren,” Vold began, the legs of his chair gently lowering to meet the floor once more. “Hak wants to clear his conscious before he writes his report for the night.”

_ “...Alright. Let’s hear it. What did Mr. Impeccable do?” _

“He kissed a girl while on duty.”

Kouren made no sound on the other end of the line, so Hak took the opportunity to repeat his tale. He could hear some shuffling in the background, the sound of a door closing, as if Kouren had found a private room to listen in on the conversation. “She kissed me,” he corrected quickly. “But I didn’t do anything to stop it. I know I shouldn’t have done it but I thought you should know before I put in my report.”

_ “Is the name on the report yet?” _

“Yes.”

_ “Make sure it’s complete and on my desk. Otherwise, go home for the night and come back tomorrow for the next shift.” _

The men exchanged confused looks. “I’m sorry but I’m confused, I thought you’d be more upset about this.” Hak pressed. It was unlike Kouren to let a slip of procedures go unnoticed. 

_ “You heard me. Come back tomorrow. You’ll get it put on your record but if the girl doesn’t want to make a complaint, then I’ll dismiss it. I get the feeling she won’t though.” _

“I’ll let her know she can come to the office and talk to you--”

_ “No, Hak you don’t understand. She won’t make a complaint because I’ve been listening to her tell the story all night.” _

None of the pieces fit together in his head. Almost as if she could hear the wheels turning in his head, Kouren sighed.  _ “Given what you told me, I’m going to assume that the girl in question is none other than the one who called my younger sister at midnight to vent about her feelings. Am I right about this being someone named Yona? She takes the same political science class as Tao.” _

Algira’s eruption of laughter did little to diminish his internal horror. His face couldn’t bury deeper into the groves of his palms, but he could try. Even Vold was hiding a smile at this point. 

_ “Anyways, go home and go talk to your girlfriend, she’d having a meltdown. Tao and I need to sleep. Oh and one more thing. For her sake, please find somewhere more romantic to make out next time and preferably not on at work. Those golf carts are already disgusting; they don’t need your fluids all over them too.” _

* * *

Anxious fingers fiddled with his housekeys as he stood in the walkway up to the house, the coffee still roiling in his stomach. There was no way he could face Yona right now. Not like this. Not after that kiss, not after that discussion with his coworkers, not when all he could think about was how much he wanted to continue that kiss, even when he knew that all she still thought about was--

Inhale, exhale.

Repeat.

The lights in the house were dimmed from the view of his windows, most of the rooms completely dark but a few still illuminated, exactly what he expected to see at midnight. None of the inhabitants were early birds so to say, but they were most definitely night owls, often throwing viewing parties in crowded rooms or staying up to share a meal they couldn’t share during the day. All that to say, at least one of his roommates would still be awake. 

“Are you going to stand there like a creeper or are you going to come inside?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or if not, Jae-Ha would at least. His surprise didn’t show, only his shoulders tensing in disappointment for having been discovered. The porch swing creaked slightly under Jae-Ha’s weight, the glint of his glass bottle reflecting the moonlight onto the porch flooring into shimmering delicate dots. “She’s probably still awake,” he continued, undeterred by Hak’s obvious frown. “She spent the last few hours on the phone with a friend while trying to clean the house--Yoon’s was still trying force feed her soup the last I saw.”

“What are you still doing up?”

“Waiting.” He motioned loosely at the street, bottle refracting more light across the house for a brief moment before it returned to his side. “Drinking.”

Hak said nothing, looking back down the street he’d walked home on. The streetlights illuminated the sidewalk drearily, yellow light leaving semi-circles on the dark concrete. No one was around, but he knew the street well enough to know it didn’t mean there was no one awake. This was a college town after all. The person Jae-Ha was waiting for would likely be meeting him out here on the porch. It seemed strange, having such lively endeavors so late at night. Back home, he’d have been in bed already.

“You cut her hair,” he said plainly as if the thought had just occurred to him.

“That’s me,” Jae-Ha purred, taking another long drink from his bottle, the precipitation dripping softly onto the wooden floor. “I think I outdid myself this time. It suits her, don’t you think?”

Hak didn’t respond.

“She’s gotten more open since she started working. I haven’t known her that long, but according to Yoon, she’s a wildfire now. Besides, everyone needs a post-heartbreak hair cut at least once in their life.”

The turbulent feeling in his stomach intensified and his heart skipped. Jaw tightening, the grip on his keys rolled further into his skin. Whether Jae-Ha noticed or not was left to be unsaid, as he motioned a small wave to someone off in the distance. He didn’t need to look at the time to know this was around the time Kija would be returning from work. Rather than stay and outlive his welcome, Hak made towards finding the right key in his hand. 

“The door’s unlocked. And by the way, a little romantic advice. Next time, let her actions speak for themselves. You’re too wound up in your thoughts.”

“That’s funny, coming from who you date,” he replied quietly, eyes low and hands hovering over the doorknob. “I also wouldn’t expect any good advice for someone as flirtatious and uncommitted as you.”

“My choices in dating and commitment are different but not uncommon,” the other replied, his tone patient and kind as if talking to a small child. Despite not being intended as an insult, it was hard not to take it personally. “While you may not think highly of my dating pool, you can at least say I speak from experiencing the other side of overthinking.” 

“I don’t have an issue with who you date, I have an issue with your unapologetic flirting,” Hak clarified, hand closing over the door handle. He could hear the sound of someone treading on grass, another sign that Kija was almost home. “But thanks. I’ll think on that.”

Without another word, he slipped inside, the door quietly closing behind him. Shoes slipping off and jacket dropping onto the overloaded coat rack, he peered into the living room the left. Yona lay fast asleep on the couch, Zeno cross-legged below her with Yoon and Shin-Ah. Zeno smiled brightly, waving Yona’s stolen phone as a prize. 

“She just fell asleep,” he whispered, pointing to the mound of blankets that had been haphazardly thrown on her. 

“You don’t need to whisper,” Hak answered, taking in the mess before him. A tray of food was between the three, clearly being communally shared. Strolling into the room, he took a seat beside Zeno, his back to the couch. He took a slice of cheese and popped it into his mouth. “She can sleep through anything.”

“It feels...impolite,” Zeno admitted sheepishly, flipping the phone playfully in his hands. 

“She doesn’t deserve to be asleep before us,” Yoon muttered, eyes glued to the textbook and page of notes settled into his lap. “First she spends all night trying to outrun me on the phone, then she gets woozy and has to be dragged onto the couch. She’s ungrateful, that’s what she is.”

“Spoiled and ungrateful,” Hak added, smiling softly. “That’s her alright. Spoiled rotten to the core. Always acts like someone’s going to clean up after her.”

“We did,” Shin-Ah said softly, knees curled into his chest as he leaned against the couch for support. “She’s tired.”

Zeno beamed. “At least she can’t say she doesn’t have a family. Where would she be without us?”

Hak wasn’t sure where he would be without them. While the sourness in his stomach had yet to subside, he felt placated by the knowledge that at the very least, Yona had somewhere to go. Somewhere to be.

“So what did you do to her anyway?”

He was no longer happy that this was his family too.

Unaffected by the glare his way, Yoon stared him down with dark, tired eyes. It was hard to have a battle of the wills when the other was clearly more peeved than enduring. “You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

“I didn’t say that,” Yoon dismissed, eyes returning to his notes. “I want to know why she was on the phone with a friend talking about how she didn’t know what to do about you.”

From around the corner of the couch, Shin-Ah’s eyes raised to meet his. They locked gaze momentarily, Shin-Ah’s eyes darting up to look at Yona once then back to Hak before a slight pink emerged across his cheeks. 

_ He knew _ .

Thanking the stars in his head, Hak looked back at Yoon instead. “Beats me,” he lied smoothly, years of practicing phrases within his friend group. He should have known that Yoon would pick up on this, based on the nasty glare now being directed his way. 

“Fine, I’ll just wake her up and ask her again myself,” Yoon snipped, raising one hand to reach over and shake Yona awake. Seated across from the couch, only Zeno and Hak’s shoulders blocked his way. Locked between a battle of bluffs, Zeno shifted his weight in his seat, stretching his legs out and nudging Yoon’s knees with his bare toes.

“Shouldn’t we let her rest?” he offered softly, clearly trying to break peace between the old friends. “She was very tired when we finally got her to sit. It would be best if she slept.”

“I’m sure Yona wouldn’t mind if I woke her up,” Yoon replied dryly, eyes boring into Hak’s with serious intent. “After all, she should probably go upstairs and sleep in her bed. Otherwise, she’ll be even sorer tomorrow. Isn’t that right Hak?”

“I don’t think someone as short as you should be so bold. It wouldn’t take a lot for me put you on top of the bookcase for being a brat.”

“What happened to me being the house mom?”

“Right now you’re acting more like my little brother.”

“And you’re acting like an ass. Don’t go around pretending in front of me; I grew up with you just as much as Yona did. Just get it over with and tell me what happened.”

The statement was true, regardless of how irritating the facts were right now. There was only one person in the room he could probably lie to and get away with it, but something about Zeno always gave off a vibe of knowing far more than he led on to believe. Yoon wasn’t entirely above waking Yona, though Hak suspected that given her genuine exhaustion, this was more bluff than honest intention. Still, he had no desire to air his laundry with all his roommates, regardless of how much they did or didn’t already know. Popping one last piece of cheese into his mouth, he leaned forward to balance himself as he stood up. Once steady on his feet, he turned around and scooped Yona up in one fluid movement, carefully but quickly rolling her back against his chest. She continued snoring softly in his arms, blissfully unaware at the sounds of protest around her or the fact that Hak was now tiptoeing his way around their roommates. 

He would deal with his repressed emotions tomorrow, Hak thought as he made his way up the stairs. Yona would be awake, he could relay what Kouren had said, and all would be good.

* * *

All was not good, unfortunately, as the next day exhaustion had completely settled in and taken up the form of the flu. He didn’t notice as quickly as Yoon did--albeit even with his budding medical studies, Yoon did have a sixth sense for ailing friends. He probably would have noticed when she woke up, if he’d been around upstairs and not downstairs downing what was probably his third cup of coffee since last night. Working the night shift had its monetary perks, but it had the misfortune of making each following morning drag into the afternoon. Instead, he had to settle for a series of anxious and angry yells that echoed down the staircase, causing him to nearly spill his coffee into his lap. Scowling, he set the cup down and began making his way upstairs, determined to shut down whatever party they’d deemed was fun enough to have at eight in the morning. What he was met with, however, was a blockade of men at the landing, arms either outstretched or held out forward to prevent Yona from moving further down the stairs. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

“This  _ moron _ ,” Yoon grunted, shoving Yona back up one step at a time. “Is clearly sick. She should be in bed sleeping,  _ not _ trying to go to class.”

“I’m going to be late,” Yona complained, her rosy cheeks and watery eyes betraying her determination to get down the stairs. Even her wobbly steps were admirable, given the amount of trouble she was giving Yoon. “We have a review today.”

“Your class isn’t for another two hours and you aren’t leaving the house,” Kija yelled over Shin-Ah’s shoulder, taking cover behind him and Jae-Ha. Zeno stood at the top, encouraging Yona to make the final few steps. “You look horrendous and you’re going to contaminate us all if you don’t go back to bed!”

“But it’s a review--”

Hak sighed, watching the public struggle with little amusement. Yona was a notoriously awful patient. She refused to stay in bed, drink her medicine, and would often make her way outdoors if left alone for too long. While Yoon had often stopped by to temporarily mother her during high school, it was Hak who often found himself bodyguarding the door day in and day out, waiting to catch her leaving. If Yona was determined to go by her path when she was healthy, she was unbearably defiant when she was sick. Pushing past his roommates, he placed a hand on her back, helping Yoon gently shove her to the top floor. 

“Come on, let’s go to bed.”

“I’m not failing my class--”

“No one said you’re going to fail the class stupid, I’m going to email the professor and ask to reschedule your test for a different day. That’s what you do when you’re an adult.”

Yona gaped, face no longer flushed from fever but from outrage. “I am not a child,” she sputtered, short curls sticking to her face from the thin sheen of sweat that coated her forehead. Hak grimaced.

“Ew. Kija was right. You look awful.”

“Whatever,” she huffed, arms crossed and legs dropping into a cross-legged seat as she refused to move forward again. “I don’t expect much from you, you’ve always said I’m not attractive. Isn’t that right Yoon? He’s got no taste.”

“I would really prefer to not be a part of this argument right now.”

“Doesn’t matter,” she self-affirmed, nodding seriously in place. “Yoon’s the prettiest one here and you never admitted that either. No taste.”

Yoon grunted, visibly and speedily losing his patience. “I have no idea how your family put up with you whenever you got like this.”

This was going nowhere. Placing two hands firmly around her ribcage, Hak hoisted her up and over his shoulder. Infuriated, she screeched, tiny fists pounding his back. “I am not going back to bed! I have class and work!”

“It’s a good thing you have sick days!” Jae-Ha called out helpfully. “Miss Yun-Hu is very gracious with your sick leave! I’ll make sure to visit her for you before my shift today!” 

Ignoring the steady beat of fists on his shoulder blades, Hak made for his room. If he was going to have to bodyguard again, then he would at least do it from the comfort and commodities of his room. If she was still sleeping it off later, Jae-Ha could deal with the consequences after his own work shift. Dumping her onto his far too small bed, he took her surprise as an opportunity to throw a pillow in her face. A muffled yelp escaped her, but Hak had already turned his attention to finding his laptop and phone amid his pile of own textbooks. Yoon busied himself into a more aggressive approach--pushing Yona back down whenever she sat up and snapping at her to stay still while he took her temperature. 

“This is stupid,” she grumbled, words garbled from behind the thermometer shoved under her tongue. Not for the first time, Hak heard Yoon mutter about needing one those forehead thermometers. Ah. Phone was buried underneath the history textbook. Success. 

“If you think it’s so stupid, then consider taking a day off next time so you don’t exhaust yourself running uphill in the fall.”

“Wait, you ran up that hill? You said you were going to wait for Kija to get off work--I thought you just weren’t feeling well!”

Hak smiled knowingly over his shoulder, unfazed by the metaphorical daggers being thrown his way. The thermometer beeped behind him, signaling a job finished. “Nope. Our sick princess over here tried to walk home. I guess she got scared or forgot something because when I got there, she was sprinting up the hill like a madwoman.”

“You absolute--” Yona yelped as Yoon smacked her upside the head with his wrist before reading the temperature off to her. “Congratulations. You have a fever. Doctors’ orders are nutritious foods and plenty of rest.”

“But my class--”

“Already taken care of,” Hak replied, flashing his phone’s screen in her direction, an email detailing the request already composed. One tap on the screen and it was gone, off to another inbox. “Jae-Ha will talk to your boss, and I doubt the professor will care about your missing class since you sleepwalk there almost every day. Just do what Yoon says.”

Bleary eyes made feeble attempts at icy stares, Yona huffing one final time before rolling over, blankets pulling over her head in defeat. “Soo-Won was never this rude.”

There it was again. That gnawing anxious beast in his stomach, curling and coiling over and over again. Ignoring Yoon’s pointed look, he took a seat at his desk instead. There would be plenty of studying he could do while she slept. Unsurprisingly, she was already snoring. How she’d found the strength to fight off five fully grown men halfway down the stairs was beyond him. No doubt the exhaustion of her feat was fully settled in, given on her instant drop into a deep slumber. Yoon stood from his seat at the edge of the bed, leaning one hip onto Hak’s desk, left hand bent on the laptop for balance. Or to keep him from deflecting. It was Yoon after all.

“You alright?” he asked lowly, volume reduced not for propriety’s sake. The caring in his voice was irritating, the clenching of his stomach suddenly that much more painful. It was common, consistent with every question Yoon had voiced throughout their childhood. Every time Hak had made the mistake of overstepping his carefully crafted cocoon and Yona had unwittingly moved back into Soo-Won’s arms. Years later, the bitterness in his mouth still appeared and his heart still skipped at the memory. Like always, Hak made no move to look at Yoon.

If there was one thing he valued, it was their den mother’s innate knowledge of when to give space, be it with words, body language, or physical distance.

“It’s fine,” he muttered instead. “I know where I stand.”

“Shin-Ah told me, you know.”

“I don’t think you gave him much of a choice.”

“I can be very persuasive,” Yoon teased, joy absent from his words. He played with the freshly capped thermometer, twirling the cylinder between his fingers. Yona snored audibly from behind them. Normally they’d crack jokes at her expense. Today, the mood remained somber. “She didn’t mean it that way. You know how she gets.”

“Spoiled, cranky, and nostalgic. I know.” 

It didn’t do much to soothe the burning in his chest. 

“What’s on your mind?”

A second thing appreciated; familiarity. It made a discussion that much more brief. Tolerable. It was hard to talk after all when it feels like your heart is in your throat.

“Rebound.”

Yoon scoffed. “I doubt she even knows what a rebound is.”

“Doesn’t matter. Still feel like one.”

“I heard from Kija you ran into him the other day at the store. How’d that go?”

“I could kill him.”

“Ditto,” mused the other, slipping the thermometer case into his back pocket. “Not sure why he turned into an asshole these past few years, but an asshole is what we got.”

Hak hummed quietly, turning to watch Yona sleep, chin balanced in his palm. “She’s such a brat.”

“You’re the one who likes her.”

Silence.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a rebound. She spent three hours talking to some friends last night about whatever it is you did--don’t tell me, I would prefer living in a world where at least  _ most _ of my roommates don’t sneak around the house doing unspeakable things on the furniture. Anyways, she wouldn’t be that stressed if it didn’t mean something to her too. Whatever it was. Again. Please don’t tell me.”

Hak coughed a small laugh in his hand, smiling. “You’re the one who picked an online ad for housing. It’s your fault you didn’t investigate to see who was living together before this.”

“You moved here on a whim too, don’t act all high and mighty.”

Silence. 

Sighing, Yoon pulled away from the table, indentation left on the bare skin that had been exposed from the stretch of his sweater. Unconsciously rubbing his side, he shrugged. “Well, I’m going to go make some more soup and get started on some chores. I’d like to get a nap in before class tonight.”

“Yoon.” He still couldn’t bring himself to look at the other’s face. Yona’s slow rise and fall did little to placate the beast in him, hands clammy and mouth dry. He knew where he stood. 

“What?” 

Regardless of her actions recently and even last night, he knew where he stood. 

“Thanks.”

This was not the first time; he’d known for years.

“No problem.”

No matter what, Yona always made her way back to Soo-Won. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Our boy is loveable, loving but oh so very dense. Rightfully so but oh so painfully dense.
> 
> 2\. My computer keeps trying to autocorrect Hak to Hank. It makes for a very funny change in the story. The idea of the same story written but with someone named Hank makes me cackle.
> 
> 3\. I promise we eventually get a happy ending. Bare with me and my sadistic need to write romantic melodrama.


	7. Yoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Mama Yoon decides enough is enough. Moms--regardless of who they are--get things done, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter update but soon be followed by a second chapter this week! We're more family-centered this chapter, but it's going to be 1,000% followed by painfully cute shenanigans next chapter. Thanks for sticking with us so far! We've only got a few more chapters to go.

Yoon didn’t mind being called mom.

At first, when they were younger and childhood nicknames still bore that pinch of embarrassment when spoken publicly, he resented the title. Nowadays, the embarrassment was replaced with thinly veiled pride in his chest, an honorary name. There was no one after all who could manage their time as well as he could, no one else who knew exactly how to make a meal that could feed all seven members of the household. No one else was able to memorize exactly what days the stores restocked their produce and which days were the best to pick up sale items. Whenever there was an issue in the house, his knowledge reigned. Even as one of the youngest, he was valued here and it gave him a twisted sense of satisfaction to hear the affectionate pet name. He didn’t really mind being called mom. Mom’s did, after all, come with the power to set their families back on the right path, be it by gentle nudging or force.

At first, this was in the form of gentle nudging. Taking advantage of Yona’s recovery period, Yoon took up keeping Hak company whenever possible. While she slept, they idly studied together, with his intention being to bring up Hak’s determination to self-sabotage any potential success when it came to actually romancing his childhood crush. When Hak had looked at him curiously over his choice of words, Yoon only suggested that he consider speaking with Yona about his insecurities. Satisfied by the usual silence that followed, Yoon moved onto Yona.

While Hak tended to wallow in silence, Yona would voice her grievances and insecurities regularly--just not to the parties involved. Thus, he waited for an opportune moment (or rather, a moment he’d manipulated to get); when Yona was unable to connect with Tao and Kouren again three days later. Seating her down with some comfort food, he casually pointed out that discussing things with her friends would only help so much, especially when the person she held conflict with could be found in the household. Encouraged by her nodding and smile, Yoon was willing to call this minimally involved intervention a success.

He did not take into account how bullheaded and emotionally stunted his childhood friends were.

Instead of brokering peace and pushing them into the very natural romance, they’d been going for, it slowly began escalating into a silent household argument. An argument, unfortunately, that was beginning to involve everyone. 

It started slowly; Yoon almost missed the warning signs because of one simple fact: none was really home at the house at the same time. Someone was always studying, working, sleeping, out shopping, or socializing. It made some sense to him when Yona took his advice into consideration but in the form of speaking to Kija and Jae-Ha. Hak had been asked to help out with his younger brother for the week, which resulted in him spending virtually no time at home. 

“I don’t want to text or call him when he’s busy with something so important,” Yoon had overheard her say one evening, walking past the dining room table with fresh groceries. “But I do want to talk about this and I need help figuring out what to do.”

Satisfied with her decision, he was content to put away the groceries.

His second mistake was forgetting that her confidant selections were also notorious meddlers. 

Now a full week after what he personally dubbed “the golf-cart incident”, he was beginning to see how his work would unravel. It began when Jae-Ha caught Hak on his way back home just before dawn, Yoon halfway out the door to start his volunteer shift at the local nursing home as part of his program. 

“You know,” Jae-Ha said slowly, clearly buzzed from his late-night drinking game with Zeno (who Yoon noted, was far soberer). “Yona talked to me about your naughty activities in the golf cart.”

Unable to stay, all Yoon could do was throw him a nasty look, a deep foreboding settling into his stomach. Three days later, when schedules finally aligned again, his gut feeling was proven right. Rather than help Hak gather an understanding of where Yona stood, Jae-Ha had succeeded in feeding into Hak’s insecurities.

“Why don’t you talk to her?” Yoon had asked him, phone precariously balanced between his shoulder and ear while he shoveled stir-fry into his mouth. There were only a few moments between his labs and food wasn’t permitted. With hours of class left in his day, his only way to ensure _someone_ picked up the correct groceries was to call the only one trusted with the task--regardless of how many potatoes he’d bought last time. “Didn’t Jae-Ha tell you about what she’s thinking?”

Hak scoffed at the end of the line. _“I don’t see why I should be the one who starts the conversation. I’m not the one who’s airing my laundry with everyone else.”_

Taken aback, Yoon fumbled with his meal, nearly dumping the contents of his bowl onto his lap. With precious time left to eat, he’d rushedly repeated his suggestion before being forced to choose between supporting his friend or potentially passing out from hunger later. 

Later that weekend, he rested down in Shin-Ah and Kija’s room, somehow the quietest room in the household. Exhausted from a week but still wanting to participate in the house party that they’d all agreed upon hosting, the basement was the only place to find a moment of solitude. Shin-Ah wouldn’t mind if he buried himself into his bed after all; the family recluse would understand needing some peace and quiet. Unable to stay awake, he fell asleep, waking once when Jae-Ha and Kija came downstairs, arguing through the blaring music. Sleepy and irate, Yoon peered out from under the pile of pillows.

“You need to give them time,” Kija exclaimed passionately, arms waving. “They aren’t like you! It’s not fair to Yona if you take what she says out of context and then spoon feed it to Hak! It’s not your relationship!”

“They’re being childish,” Jae-Ha argued, pulling the basement door closed behind them. They hovered on the small staircase, glaring at each other. “They’re adults Kija. If they want to take what I say at what they think is face value that’s their fault. Besides, Hak’s clearly been pinning for her for what, years? Don’t you think it’s time he starts taking some initiative?”

“He’s not you and that’s not the issue! You have to stop telling Hak what I tell you. I’m confiding in you--they’re confiding in us--they trust us! It’s just making things worse.”

“Like you’re one to talk; you just talk her into assuming the worst. Just because you’re an anxious disaster doesn’t mean she has to be one too.”

Yoon blinked, suddenly very awake in the painfully quiet room. Something was inaudible was muttered, tone bitter and vile, the sound of a door being slammed, then nothing. Sleep took him again for a few hours or so until he was awake enough to go back upstairs. By then the party was dying out, small groups of common friends congregating in the few large spaces they had available. Jae-Ha was nowhere to be seen, Shin-Ah and Kija seated quietly out on the porch. Yona and Hak were hosting different groups, in the same room but stiff in the presence of the other. Lips pressing into a thin line, Yoon swore quietly under his breath. This was no longer going according to plan. 

From that point on, the atmosphere in the house slowly but surely became unbearable.

Snide words were being passed through other house members. Hak refused to talk to Yona on the principle that she was being childish, to which Yona rebuffed with frustration at his inability to be emotionally available for a two-minute conversation. Jae-Ha often serving as a messenger for both parties given that he worked across the street from Yona and shared a room with Hak. This, in turn, created tension between him and Kija, who was openly and loudly displeased with the childish behavior being “encouraged in this household”. Shin-Ah slowly grew more and more reclusive as he became Kija’s sole support. More than once Yoon had found him awake at odd hours, curled on the couch, and watching whatever was available absently. 

Three weeks since the incident and two weeks into the argument, Yoon came home to what he expected was an empty house. Dumping his messenger back on the couch, he headed to the kitchen to find a snack for his impending studies when he heard someone become violently ill in the bathroom. Alarmed, he abandoned his fare and backtracked into the hallway, knocking on the door gently. 

“Hey, are you alright in there?”

A gag met his ears instead, nose wrinkling in distaste.

“I’m coming in,” he announced, turning the door handle. Shin-Ah sat on the minuscule bathroom floor, pale and sweaty, his head pressed to the wall. After concluding that Shin-Ah was only dry heaving (not that it relieved any of his previous concerns), he slowly knelt down to join him on the floor. “Are you okay?”

Shin-Ah nodded tiredly, eyes closed. Calmly, he began to assess what he could ascertain. Based on his complexion, Shin-Ah did not have a fever but he shivered all the same. He didn’t appear to be in immediate pain, but he wouldn’t open his eyes and seemed entirely focused on controlling his breathing. The bags under his eyes spoke more to what Yoon suspected than the rest of his obvious body language, something only he and Shin-Ah ever discussed in private.

“You’re having an anxiety episode again, aren’t you?”

Shin-Ah groaned pitifully, forehead dropping to meet his now drawn-up knees. “-‘m fine,” he mumbled, taking in slow, forced breaths. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not worried about that, I know you’ll be fine,” Yoon explained calmly, reaching for his hand. His palms were clammy, cold, and pulsing in his own hand. “I want to know what’s causing you stress. We’ve talked about this; it won’t go away unless you identify and come to terms with it. Otherwise, you end up like this again.”

“It’s not a real problem,” Shin-Ah insisted, voiced gruff through the fabric of his sweater. 

“Clearly it is. You don’t get this way overnight. It’s obviously been bothering you for a while. Is it about your classes again?”

“Not that. I’m fine. I’m just sick.”

“Shin-Ah.”

They sat quietly in the bathroom, listening to Shin-Ah’s ragged breathing. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Carefully, he voiced his suspicion. “It’s about all the arguing in the house, isn’t it?”

Shin-Ah grimaced, curling towards the toilet again, involuntarily clutching Yoon’s hand. He made no move to becoming sick, but clearly he’d hit the nail on the head. He’d have to pick his words more carefully, lest he makes him feel worse. Leaning back onto the column of the sink, he let Shin-Ah squeeze his hand. Thumb rubbing small circles on the back of his hand, Yoon weighed his words. 

“Squeeze once if I’m right--the arguing around the house is stressing you out.”

Squeeze. He’d have to remember this method for the future.

“It feels like you can’t escape the arguing, no matter where you go.”

Another squeeze.

“You feel like you need a break but you also want to help.”

A more hesitant squeeze, but felt regardless. More softly this time, he spoke again.

“The arguing reminds you of home.”

A firm grip, fingers fumbling to lace around his as Shin-Ah turned away from him and his porcelain comfort. Wordlessly, he scooted closer, arm aching from the awkward position but he refused to unlace their hands. Head falling onto Shin-Ah’s back, he waited patiently for the rise of his chest to settle back to a normal rhythm. It was there and then that he came to one logical conclusion: this could not continue.

* * *

“You’re tearing this family apart,” He began flatly, arms folded flat across his chest. It took a series of guilt trips over text and phone calls to plan this dinner, but sure enough, Yoon succeeded in ensuring that each member of his household attended the family dinner single dinner. “It’s stupid, childish, and unnecessarily stressful so we’re going to settle this once and for all today. All of us.”

Immediately, the table erupted in half-formed protests, but a carefully calculated glare ended all arguments. There was something humorous to be said about the glum faces around the cramped table but Yoon refocused on his determination to settle matters once and for all, taking a long look at each face. At one end of the table, Hak swore quietly under his breath, nudging Jae-Ha and Zeno.

“I told you this was a trap, he never coordinates dinners unless he’s got something to say.”

“You’re damn right I’ve got something to say,” Yoon snapped, pointing at the calendar behind him. “It’s almost December and you two haven’t spoken since October! You’re acting like children!”

The pair blushed pink at their respective sides of the table, refusing to lock gaze with anything other than the tablecloth. “Hak’s the one who won’t talk to me,” Yona mumbled, fingers playing with the frayed ends of the linen. “I don’t know what his problem is.”

“If you want to know then _ask_ ,” Yoon hissed, arms uncrossed and hands grasping the air above his head in frustration. “You’re an adult! Ask him! Hak! Tell her what your problem is!”

Wide-eyed, Hak stiffened. “I don’t have a problem.”

Yoon inhaled and exhaled again, vaguely recalling a lecture about how stress can age one’s heart, given enough time. He wondered briefly how many years he’d lost to this idiotic pair. Thoughts settling on the memory of Shin-Ah in the bathroom, he recentered his focus yet again. “Try again Hak. What is your problem?”

Hak didn’t budge. Jae-Ha shifted uncomfortably next to him, suddenly very interested in his empty plate. All the food lay prepared in the kitchen, behind Yoon. If anyone wanted to eat tonight, they would need to answer his questions. He was prepared. He’d waited weeks for this. There was no way he was letting them off after this.

All of his grace and patience spent, Yoon took one last stress soothing breath before he spoke.

“Hak, you’re upset with Yona because you’ve convinced yourself you can’t trust her. It’s stupid. You’ve known her your whole life but we’re adults and people change. The Yona of our childhood isn’t the same anymore, she’s a grown-ass woman. Treat her like one for everyone’s sake.”

Unfazed by Hak’s sputtering response, he spun to face Yona. “Yona, you’re upset with Hak because he doesn’t communicate. He’s a dumb jock. He’s not great with talking about his feelings, you know this, I know this, we all know this. Don’t expect him to change overnight and definitely don’t expect him to change if you don’t ask him to in the first place. Just like I told him, you’re a grown-ass woman who can ask people how they feel. Asking others to talk to him for you is trivial and high school. Just ask him next time--preferably not at home or right before you call for a ride home.”

Yona shrank in her chair, face now tomato red and indistinguishable from her cropped curly hair. Yoon whipped back to glare at Jae-Ha, who flinched.

“What did I do?”

“You stirred up the drama! It’s one thing to play messenger, it’s another to spread gossip around the house. If you had just kept your mouth shut--or better yet, not played messenger in the first place--then your own relationship wouldn’t be halfway down the gutter right now. Stop self-sabotaging.”

“I didn’t spread all the rumors,” Jae-ha huffed half-heartedly, well aware that he was not entirely in a position to argue back.

“I know, he’s next,” Yoon exclaimed, now turning to face Kija, who flinched once under his ire. “You are just as much to blame for this! I know you would have little meetings with Yona where you’d nitpick what Jae-Ha was passing along and even building conspiracies about what Hak wasn’t telling you! Your wild imagination blew this out of proportion and made it go on longer than necessary. Stop meddling in other people’s problems and figure out your own crap.”

Bright pink, Kija began to follow Yona’s previous game with the linen. “But how did you--”

“Don’t call me mama Yoon if you don’t mean it. I know everything. You’re both idiots and you’re older than all of us. Get it together.”

Taking one last deep breath, Yoon looked at Zeno and Shin-Ah, both seated in the middle of the table. While Zeno looked ready and too comfortable with the idea of potentially being yelled at, Shin-Ah looked petrified. Flexing his hands to help relieve the remaining tension in his body, he spoke again.

“Zeno, I know being impartial is kind of your thing but I would have appreciated it if you had intervened earlier. You know everyone else just as long as Hak and Yona have been my friends. It would have been helpful for you to say something sooner.”

“I understand,” Zeno replied cheerfully. “I’ll be better next time.”

Hesitant, Yoon smiled at Shin-Ah. “I’m not mad at you Shin-Ah. I understand that this was stressful for you and I’m sorry to put you on the spot, but your roommates need to know what’s going on. They’re not smart enough to figure out this was giving you anxiety.”

Shin-Ah’s bloomed peach pink, eyes wide as he began tunneling into his hoodie, his comfort blanket. He mumbled weakly into the collar, pulling away from his neighbors. Belatedly, Yoon noticed that he’d strategically placed himself in the middle of the booth, sheltered and comforted by the presence of his friends. Kija gaped, blinking furiously. 

“What do you mean?”

Shin-Ah locked eyes with Yoon, pleading silence. Yoon sighed. “If you never tell them, it will only continue to be painful for you. Please.”

Zeno grasped his hand under the table, smiling warmly. “Can I share for you?”

He nodded, face now planted firmly into his free hand, skin equally pink throughout. “Shin-Ah finds arguing stressful,” Zeno explained softly. “It is hard to explain without oversharing, but to put it simply, Shin-Ah as we all somewhat know has anxiety. Being anxious makes him more inclined to listen but never speak up for himself. That in turn makes him more anxious, and it becomes a difficult cycle for him to break after a while. Is that an adequate explanation Yoon?”

Shin-Ah would not lift his eyes, pulling his hand away from Zeno to obscure his face further. Yoon nodded, slumped against the wall, emotionally drained. “I would also add that being forced to pick sides is never a pleasant experience--one I can speak to personally. Honestly, that’s why I arranged this. You’ve all been stressing him out and it’s starting to make him sick. It’s ridiculous.”

“Is that true Shin-Ah?” Yona spoke sadly, her voice ringing out the similar words that sounded around the table.

Shin-Ah hid his face behind his hands, his hands a healthy shade of pink that was sure to match the rest of his body. “I wanted to be a good friend,” he whispered behind his palm, voice steadily becoming shakier. “You’re my friends. I want to help.”

Ah. Shit. Yoon’s plan hadn’t accounted for making their resident anxiety ball cry, let alone at the dinner table. Guilt settled into his stomach. Maybe he should stop making plans like this in the future; none of his other plans had worked after all. 

Hak stared at Shin-Ah incredulously, suddenly the spitting image of the older brother Yoon had seen him be throughout their childhood. “Shin-Ah, you can tell us if something is bothering you. You don’t have to listen to all our problems.” He reached over behind Zeno, awkwardly patting the youngest on the head. “It’s not fair for you to listen to all our problems if you feel like you can’t share with us.”

Head bopped forward, Shin-Ah’s hands came away just enough for everyone at the table to catch a glimpse at his teary face. Well crap. He made Shin-Ah cry. Making Shin-Ah cry was like kicking a puppy; there was nothing permissible or forgivable about it. Based on the instant reaction across the table, the other felt the same way. 

“I swear, if I had known, I wouldn’t have stopped!” Kija exclaimed, leaning across the table, empty plates clinking as the tablecloth shifted forward. Blindly, he grasped at Shin-Ah’s wrist, pulling one hand away from his face. Shin-Ah squawked, fighting to hide his face again. Yoon grimaced. Things were derailing very quickly--he hadn’t realized how many in the household were sympathetic criers. The only two who weren’t crying at this point were Jae-Ha and Hak, though Yoon was certain he’d spotted a watery look in both their faces. It was hard to tell. Yoon was a sympathetic crier too. He hadn’t planned on losing face this way. This was a disaster.

“I’m sorry too,” Yona wept, blindly reaching over to half-hug her friend. “I didn’t mean to cause this much stress. It hasn’t been hard for just me, I’ve been selfish.”

“Please talk to us!” Zeno exclaimed, eyes wet with unspilled tears. “We’re family!”

“You’re like our little brother,” Jae-Ha explained, voice tight despite no tear streaks on his face. “You can always talk to us.”

Watching the awkward scene play out before him, Yoon shrugged and turned, quickly wiping his face with his sleeve before slapping his cheeks. “Let’s just eat,” he mumbled, refusing to turn around. If he did he would cry again. 

This was the last time he’d ever let them avoid talking again. No one needed this mess. What a complete disaster. Working to pass the food around the table, things slowly began to melt back into their previous ease, ignoring the various sniffles around the table. Quietly, they shared the meal, occasionally speaking to request something across the table and someone mumbling a word of assurance towards Shin-Ah. After a few moments of silent eating, Yona snickered softly, unable to look at Yoon without laughing further. Frowning, he set down his fork. 

“What?”

“Nothing, you’re just so...motherly,” she laughed, shoulders trembling from the effort. Smiles met him around the dining room, now his own blood rushing to his cheeks. “We all got yelled at by mom and now we’re having an awkward dinner.”

“Well I live here too,” he mumbled, fork playing with the rice on his plate. “Someone had to say something.”

“It’s okay to say you love us,” Hak teased. “Even if you’re emotionally grounding us.”

Never.

He would rather choke on his own meal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to write a Yoon chapter for a while! It was fun. I also have another Hak/Yona story in the works but I'm trying to convince myself to stick to a project through to the end before starting another. It's...probably not going to happen so look forward to that.


	8. Stoves and Slumber parties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heat breaks, nothing really steamy happens but we get a lot of weight off our chest anyways.

Hak affectionately dubbed that day as “the household grounding”. Yoon hated the phrase--or so he said. It wasn’t as if anyone held a grudge over Yoon’s messy attempt at mediation. Sometimes it took being yelled at like you were a petulant child to realize you were being a petulant child. Then again, sometimes yelling at people like they were children made others in the vicinity cry. Hak smiled at the memory. The look on Yoon’s face had revealed that he had  _ not _ expected Shin-Ah to cry, let alone for two-thirds of the dining room to cry along with him. And while the crying hadn’t been intentional, it had helped release some of the emotional tension between everyone. 

Tossing the tennis ball in his hand up at the ceiling, his other arm lifted comfortably above his head and on a throw pillow. A week after “the grounding”, everything was somewhat back to normal. Winter break had already started, and there would be time to relax. After all, his job was essentially to be a glorified escort. Anything major would be handed over to the police and with no one to escort on campus, there wasn’t much work over the break. Instead, he could sit peacefully by the small wood burning stove that kept the living room warm. A casual past-time that became an unexpected necessity three days into the break, when their gas heat suddenly stopped working. 

This was hardly a long-term nuisance; not when everyone had plans to visit family or travel within the next few days to celebrate the upcoming new year, but regardless, it had turned their living room into a massive den, pillows askew, and blankets layered on the floor for some kind of cushioning. For the last three days, they’d piled into the living room at night, schedules temporarily aligned with the closure of the campus for winter break. Instead of sleeping in their increasingly cold rooms, the wood stove was lit and a sort of slumber puddle was arranged throughout the living room. Someone always woke up kicked, sore, or stiff but it was preferable to freezing upstairs. Somewhere above his head, someone shifted, grumbling uncomfortably as their back popped. 

“You’d be more comfortable with a pillow,” he mused, tennis ball rolling back into his palm before he launched it up again. “Or even better, in your bed.”

“I’m not going to my room. I’m the only one without a roommate. It’s frigid without the extra body in the room.”

Hak smirked, catching the ball one last time before letting his dominant arm fall to rest on his chest. “Is that an invitation?” he teased, ignoring the tightness in his chest. Yoon wasn’t wrong; talking about his emotions was too raw, too painful. Teasing was easier. 

A pillow met his face, preceded by a grunt to his right. Hak stifled his laughter, his whole body shaking with the effort to remain quiet. “Did you take someone’s pillow just to hit me?”

“That was mine,” Jae-ha grumbled above him, straightening up on the couch. “And just because we have roommates doesn’t mean our rooms are any warmer, Yona. Why do you think we’re all in here?”

“Because we pay high rent for quality housing?”

“Hilarious,” grunted Yoon from the other end of the couch, face still sandwiched between Shin-Ah and Zeno. Pillow removed from his face, Hak could see that they were comfortably cocooned in a blanket together. “No, we pay absurd rent for a place that craps out every winter. It’s the payoff for something so close to downtown and campus that we don’t actually need the car most of the time.”

“Why do you keep driving around then?”

“Ask me that again the next time you complain about having to walk back at midnight, I’ll be sure to ignore you on the warm drive home.”

“He’s got a point Yona,” Jae-Ha mumbled sleepily, turning back to curl into the couch. “You’re the one who ends up needing a ride the most.”

Hak snickered by her hip. “It’s her pampered upbringing; she’d rather sprint up the hill than be caught dead waiting in the night for a measly bus ride home.”

She ignored them. “Where’s Kija?”

“Showering, I guess.”

Yona fell back towards Hak’s side, falling inches from his chest. For a moment, they locked eyes but then turned away, each a healthy shade of pink. “Seriously?” she questioned, hands folding over her stomach. “I couldn’t handle showering in that ice bath. It’s way too cold.”

“He says he likes the cold,” Jae-Ha explained with a lazy shrug. “I don’t get it.”

“It’s not that bad,” Hak added. “I’m surprised though, he’s almost as spoiled as Yona is. I would have pegged him as a warm bath type of person.”

“Oh, he is. But he also takes freezing cold showers. I think he’s crazy.”

Yoon groaned at the other end of the couch, prodding Shin-Ah and Zeno awake. “We have to get going,” he mumbled. “I want to hit the road before traffic starts up.”

Hak tilted his head back to look at the trio. “Tell Ik-Soo I said hi.”

Yona perked up, sitting upright completely, only wincing when her lower back popped yet again. “Yes! Send our regards!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go down with us? There’s plenty of room at his house,” Yoon offered, patiently waiting for Zeno and Shin-Ah to untangle themselves from the shared assortment of blankets. Zeno’s strategy of shoving all the blankets off in one go had only caused more commotion, Shin-Ah’s discomfort muffled through the pile of fleece. “Ik-Soo wouldn’t mind and you already said that Mundok is taking Tae-Yeon somewhere this month. I can’t imagine anything worse than being stuck here, even if those two will be here half the time.”

Yona waved him off dismissively, twisting from side to side in hopes of loosening her back. “We’ll be fine. Someone has to be here when the heating company comes to fix the furnace. And yes, I know,” she interrupted, Yoon’s mouth already half-open with his interjection. “If we smell rotten eggs, get out of the house and call the company immediately because that means we have a leak.”

Yoon scowled, legs kicking away from the growing tangle of blankets around them. “I’m not sure how you plan on smelling it when the wood stove is running all day. It smells like firewood. Constantly.”

“There’s four of us,” Jae-Ha muttered through the couch. “I’m sure we’ll manage.”

He glared, unconvinced but resumed his task of wrangling his carpool team regardless. Yona smiled at him, beckoning him to lean closer and closer until she could awkwardly wrap her arms around his neck. Yoon huffed, face radiating heat against her cheek. “You could have gotten up,” he mumbled, his own arms hesitantly wrapping around her shoulders. “You’re going to hurt your back.”

“Drive safe,” she chirped, ruffling his hair from behind. Somewhere below, Hak blindly threw up his arm, palm colliding against the side of Yoon’s head, reciprocating the sentiment with a firm but clumsy pat. He grunted at the impact but did not move away.

“We’ll be fine. Get moving.”

* * *

They were, for the most part, doing just fine. Hak had to admit, the first day was a little strange, especially upon realizing that Yoon was the one who cooked almost  _ all _ the meals. By divvying up the chores, however, things functioned in a somewhat acceptable manner. Despite their hard work, the issue of the heat remained. A room was only tolerable with two people in it--unless they were sitting the living room with the stove lit--and even then, work had to be done in increasingly short bursts the later it was in the day. Kija was inflexible when it came to working in the cold (how he managed to enjoy cold showers was beyond him) but more than willing to help keep the fire running. Jae-Ha was willing to work, but given his inadequate clothing (Hak had always suspected he didn’t own a sweater), could only withstand a few minutes away from the living room. 

In response, Yona was happy to take a turn working in the kitchen for meals, unaffected by the chill, but her previous meals were less than palatable and essentially a waste of ingredients. Somehow Hak thought, as he ignored the cold for the favorable heat emitted from the electric stove, he doubted that Yona had magically acquired the ability to cook edible meals in the last year or so. Therefore, Yona was placed in charge of the cleaning, while Hak prepared new meals. Two more days, he thought to himself, stirring the aromatic bubbling pot before him. In two days the heat would be fixed and they could stop huddling in the living room. In two days, everyone would go back to their rooms and life would resume. No more huddling under the same blankets, kicks to the face midnight, or even the occasional awful morning breath that drifted his direction from time to time. 

“I’ll still miss it,” Yona replied, when he finally voiced these words aloud, filling the kitchen with sounds other than the occasional clash of a dish or the soft bubbling of the soup he was tending. “It felt like our childhood all over again, when everyone would sleepover.”

Hak nodded quietly, eyes watching the bubbles surface to the top and pop in the pot. “You mean when everyone slept over,” he clarified, grip loosening over the wooden spoon, allowing it to rest on the rim. “Soo-Won included.”

Again, the bubbling of the soup filled the room. Yona sighed. “I guess I do.”

Time again, he asked the question he’d voiced once a few months ago. “Have you talked to him since then?”

“Since you saw him at the grocery store.” This wasn’t a question, simply a marker of a time long past. She hesitated, a sharp intake of air the only clue he has from behind his back, eyes still focused firmly on the meal. “No, but I’ve seen him.”

He nods, indifferent as to whether or not she saw him. It wasn’t that unexpected; even he saw Soo-Won from time to time, leaving or arriving on campus early in the morning, just as his own shift ended. It seemed that his graduate program left him even less time to socialize than before. Not that he’d gone out of his way to say anything. Yona continued.

“Yun-Ho and her husband know him. He occasionally stops by as a part of his marketing program--they talk to local businesses and interview them on their practices. That’s what he told me, before all this. I haven’t talked to him since I left.”

“Do you want to?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied, voice tired and low. “I don’t know what I would say.”

The tightness in his chest, though more muted than before, emerged again for the first time since their petty argument had ended. Pulling the lid over the pot just enough to leave room for the steam to escape, he patted his hands clean on the half-apron wrapped around his waist. Yona continued washing dishes behind him, none the wiser as he approached, leaning against the counter to her left. She looked up at him peculiarly before resuming her task, scrubbing each plate clean before moving onto the next. “What is it?”

“I find it hard to believe you don’t have anything to say back, that’s all. You’re not known for being speechless.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re mouthy and argumentative.”

Her hair bounced as she turned to glare at him, hands furiously rubbing the dish in her hands clean. “Just because you think that doesn’t mean talking to him is any easier! I don’t see you calling him up anytime soon!”

Ouch. His smirk faltered momentarily, but the pang in his chest pestered him on. Reaching over, he gently pressed his palm to the side of her head, pushing it back. Glaring, she pulled away, attention back on her prior task. “The person in question right now is you, not me. I think you should tell him what you really feel.”

“Because that went so well for me last time,” she grumbled, ears pinking ever so slightly beneath her fiery hair. “Telling him that was how I got here in the first place.”

“What about now?” 

She glanced at him briefly, curiosity in her eyes evident. Not for the first time, he found himself distracted by the lilac hue. Her gaze narrowed, suddenly suspicious. “What do you mean?”

The grip over his heart tightened again, but he took the chance anyway before his mind had a chance to catch up with his mouth. 

“Is that how you feel now?” he pressed, calm in comparison to the turmoil in his stomach. “Do you still love him?”

The sound of the running water resounded between them, the porcelain dish still held firmly in her hand. Frowning, she watched him, studying his face the way she always did when she put thought behind her words. While the pink on her ears was still fading, there was no embarrassment to be found on her face. “What’s your problem Hak?”

That wasn’t the response he was expecting. Annoyance rushing in to replace apprehension, he scowled. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“And I’m asking if your self-esteem is that low or if you’re really that dense.”

Stung, he rolled his eyes. Of course, she would respond to this immaturely. Yoon really gave her too much credit. Ready to end this conversation, he started to lean off the counter when Yona interrupted his movement, the dish in her hand dropping with a clatter as she slapped that same hand onto his chest. He grunted, barely swayed by what was probably the full extent of her strength. Her wet palm was starting to seep into his shirt, a damp handprint slowly growing on the fabric. That did little to placate him though. Frustrated, he stared her down, unaffected by the frustration painted across her own face. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t really understand how this conversation suddenly turned on me.” He growled, reaching up and wrapping a hand around her wrist. Despite his feelings, he was painfully cognizant of her small frame, the racing pulse against his skin. It was best to focus on that, rather than the infuriating look on her face. “If you don’t want to talk about how you got rejected, that’s fine by me. Just don’t twist it around and act like I’m the one with a problem.”

“You are!”

“You’re just saying that because of what Yoon said--”

“I am!” she exclaimed, suddenly pushing him back against the cabinets with her full force. Startled, he fell back a bit, hand falling away from her forearm to stabilize himself. Despite her slender size, he hadn’t expected her to be so...strong? Forceful? A knot formed in his throat as he wondered if she’d always been that strong. Maybe he’d just never noticed. “Yoon is right! You don’t trust me!”

“That’s not true--”

“Yes, it is! I kissed you! Not the other way around; I kissed you.” She huffed, eyes glistening and voice tight with emotion. “I kissed you and you didn’t say anything. You never talked to me, you never tried it again--what was I supposed to think? Either you have zero interest, you have the romance radar of a nun, or you don’t trust me. Why would I say anything? You ignored me for a month Hak!”

Stunned, he stood silent, shaken by the words that gushed forth at him. Hand still firm at his chest, he could see her chest heave with each angry breath, letting the weight of her words sink in. The usual grip in his chest was replaced with a cold rush of regret, each wave stronger as he watched her struggle to hold back infuriated tears. “...I’m sorry,” he muttered, voice dropping with shame. “You’re right. I made a mistake.”

“Yeah well, thanks for the apology,” she spat, arm losing strength and loosening its push against him. “It’s good to know where I stand in your life.”

His own hand reached up to catch her arm before it met her side once more, grip closing around her small wrist. Ignoring her shocked expression, he pulled her closer, using his other hand to press her face against his still wet chest. Her complaints muffled into his shirt and one hand leaving wet tap marks against his side, he proceeded to bury his face into her hair. The smell of her shampoo did little to temper his racing heartbeat, which he was certain Yona could feel, but he no longer cared.

“I’m the one who doesn’t know where they stand,” he began lowly, concentration on the strands of hair that tickled his face. She smelled of hibiscus flowers, summery and warm in comparison to their house that reeked of pine and earthy smells. “You kissed me and I don’t know where I am anymore. You kissed me and turned the world upside down. I didn’t know what to say and I didn’t want to listen either.”

She stopped beating his side, arms now limp at either side, motionless against his shaky breathing. They stood together in silence for an indefinite time, breathing together. Aware of the still running sink, Hak sighed, pulling away from their strange shared space to turn off the sink. 

“You don’t have to answer my question,” he continued tiredly, gently pushing her aside and returning the stove. The fragrance of the soup was now filling the kitchen, an easy notice that it was done boiling. He flipped the dial to zero, effectively cutting off the electrical power to the burner, and reached for the prepared set of dishes to his right. Pouring himself a small bowl of soup, he set the lid off to the side so the soup could steam more easily. “If you can’t answer with certainty, I would prefer it if you didn’t. I just want to know where I stand.”

The water was still running when he left the kitchen, plate in hand as he headed for the warmth of the living room. Kija gave him a peculiar look as he entered, taking a seat beside him on the couch before partaking in his early dinner. “Is everything alright?” 

The soup tasted as bitter as the words he’d spoken a moment ago. It was still a fair bit tastier than anything the others could make. He shrugged. “It’s fine. Dinners ready.”

“Are you sure, you look upset--”

“I’m fine Kija.”

* * *

Amidst his regrettable choice of conversation in the kitchen, he’d completely forgotten that Kija and Jae-Ha were leaving for the weekend; he would have to share the living room alone with Yona for one more night. Any hormonal fantasies he normally would have fought off were rightfully soured by his earlier actions. Instead, his mind was determined in torturing him throughout the night, wracked with warped ideas of Yona seeking Soo-Won in a myriad of ways. His latest twisted dream had ended with Yona proudly presenting him with a tattoo of Soo-Won’s name wrapped with flowers on her bicep, startling him awake for the hundredth time that night in a cold sweat. Glaring at the ceiling as if it was the source of his absurd dreams, he relented to the nightmares. Sleep would have to wait one more night. 

Blindly searching the area around him, he felt around for his phone, already dreading at the thought of knowing the time. 

“It’s five in the morning.”

He flinched, startled by Yona’s quiet voice above him, only now noticing her fingers gently touching his shoulder. The firelight at his face illuminated her face softly, her already bright red hair aflame with the flickering light. Damp locks hung over his face, the occasional drop of water falling onto his cheek and bringing forth the smell of hibiscus again. She must have just showered. “I’m leaving for work,” she continued softly. “I didn’t want to wake you but I thought it would be better to tell you, rather than have you wake up and find me gone.”

“You’re a grown-ass woman, according to Yoon,” he grumbled, voice still rough with sleep. She didn’t know the real reason he was awake. Or barely awake at least. It wasn’t as if he’d really slept well. “You can go wherever you want. Besides, I thought you didn’t have to work this weekend.”

“Lili called me. Miss Yun-Ho had her baby last night, so I have to go in.”

“Oh. Tell her congrats.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Or maybe it did. It was hard to concentrate when the flames made her eyes sparkle in such a dazzling way, dancing amethyst watching his every move. His own eyes fluttered with sleep. It was getting hard to stay completely conscious but he didn’t relish the thought of waking up again with another bizarre nightmare. “Anyways, I should go. The furnace crew should be here around eight, so you can go back to sleep.”

“I might just stay awake and get some coffee going--it feels weird sleeping this early anyways.”

“Oh yeah. Nightguard hours and all.”

“Yeah.”

She made to stand up, interrupted when he pulled his arm over his head to grab her arm. Confused, she turned back to face him, words still forming when he leaned up just enough to press his lips against her. She froze for a brief moment before leaning in to the kiss, lips parting to accommodate his. They fit awkwardly against each other, her face upside down to his, his breath surely tickling her cheek. Once his chest and abs were tired of complaining against the unnatural position, he pulled away, falling back onto the ground with a soft exhale. She sat above him silently, expression unreadable as he closed his eyes again. 

“Be safe,” he mumbled. “Don’t forget to wear a coat.”

“What was that for?”

“Just a goodbye, that’s all.” He rolled onto his side, savoring the memory of her soft unchapped lips against his. “See you later.”

He heard her sigh at his head but she didn’t argue, instead opting to rise to her feet. He waited for the telltale sound of the front door, eyes opening as he rolled onto his back once more. Arms rising to press against his forehead, he exhaled shakily. He wasn’t ready yet, not to talk extensively or admit to himself the possibility of the relationship he’d dreamed of his whole life. But this was an acceptable consolation in the meantime. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient! Work ended so my sleep schedule got swapped. Been trying to balance my schedule to allow more time for typing. 
> 
> We got about 2-3 more chapters to go! I'll be posting another Yona/Hak fic later this week, so look forward to that!


	9. Coffee Cups & Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yona has a really awkward day.

When Lili had called her early in the morning, she hadn’t anticipated being needed at the store so early, let alone walking in the winter but it was still something she’d considered. Yun-Ho had been, after all, very pregnant and due at the drop of a hat. It was only understandable that she would be called in sometime late winter to help the run store. What she couldn’t have predicted was Lili’s cheerful voice spilling Soo-Won’s name over the phone at four in the morning as if his existence didn’t make her feel like someone poured ice water down her back. 

She would know. They’d spent the better half of a week showering in frigid waters. She’d spent the hour after her early call floating from a frozen shower to stiff drying by the fire, wrapped in a thick bathrobe until she was sufficiently dry and warm enough to clothe herself adequately for work. Even after her soft farewell gift--a gift she felt ghosting on her face when she pressed her fingers to her lips--Yona remained acutely aware of what awaited her once she reached the flower shop.

Lili kept her cheerful demeanor even as she spotted Yona exiting her house, waving fiercely from behind the fogging car window. Yona sighed, offering her own small wave from over her shoulder as she worked to lock the main door. She fumbled through her faux leather gloves, the fabric thick with the extra inner layer of sherpa fleece. Kija had been considerate in picking these out for her during his last grocery run but they made for a difficult time doing anything. Managing to click the keys in place, at last, she set the lock in place and turned to join the carpool. Tetora and Ayura smiled tiredly from the front, waiting patiently for her to file into the vehicle before speaking.

"So I take it that Lili told you about Soo-Won," Ayura began, not bothering to offer a prelude into the conversation. As Yona worked to clip her seatbelt in place. Tetora was already backing out of the driveway, heading to the street. "Are you going to be alright with this?"

"All Lili said was that he's going to be managing the shop for a while."

"Technically he'll be our stand-in boss until Yun-Ho gets off her maternity leave. I'm not really sure of the details myself."

"It's a part of his program," Yona explained listlessly, leaning away from the cold window and closer to the middle. "He told me once he'd have to intern at some type of business; run it, collaborate with the owners, and whatnot. I guess the baby lined up well for him."

"Either way, you deserved a heads-up before heading in, that's all."

"Tetora was worried you'd quit if you just showed up to find him there," Lili interjected, ignoring the sharp stare directed at her through the rearview mirror. "I told her not to worry because you're not a quitter. I'm a little more worried you're going to slap him or something."

"I'll be fine," she responded blankly, eyes closing while she basked in the mild warmth of the heater. It would snow soon, she thought absently. The air was dry enough and the climate cold enough. Once upon a time, she would have dreamt to spend time with Soo-Won in the snow, a snowfall date at the park, his hand keeping hers warm. Now the idea of holding his hand made her stomach churn, let alone the thought of sharing space with him. The irony of Hak's inquiry last night was not lost on her. Even now, with the fast-approaching opportunity to voice her thoughts once more, she still had no idea what to say to him. 

The short car ride was dry and silent, none of the women willing to bring up what was obviously a still sore subject. Instead, Tetora focused on reaching her parking spot in the garage, careful to avoid hitting other cars in the tight narrow structure. Once parked, she took a deep breath and turned in her seat.

"Do you need us to kick his ass?"

Yona blinked, flabbergasted. 

"We'll beat him up if that's what you want, just say the word. I don't doubt that Yun-Ho would disagree if you explained to her the issue and her husband is putty if she asks him for anything. You don't have to work with… Whatever he is to you."

Oh. They were genuinely worried about her. They cared. 

Taking in the serious expressions in the car, she couldn't resist settling into a stifled giggle. "Please don't, I'll be fine." She insisted. "Don't go getting into trouble for me. Besides, I was bound to have to see him at some point."

"Yes, it's always better to do so on your terms. This isn't some run-in at the coffee shop, he's going to be your acting manager. There are some serious power imbalances at play here. I just want to make sure you understand that."

Yona nodded in an attempt to reassure her coworkers--her friends, really. Unconvinced but aware the clock continued moving, Lili set of the group motion of exiting the vehicle. Together they walked through the garage and up the stairs to the main street level, really crossing the dead road to reach the conveniently located flower shop. Using her own set of keys, Ayura opened the front door, holding it open for everyone to walk through before following the line inside. Soo-Won stood in the middle of the store with Geun-Tae, looking over the binder full of requisitions that had to be fulfilled by the end of the day. Looking up at the sound of the bell, Geun-Tae smiled warmly, dark circles under his eyes the only evidence of having endured a long night. 

"Thank you for coming in," he breathed with relief, the heavy folder sinking slightly as his shoulders released from their tension. “We appreciate it.”

“Anytime sir,” Ayura replied, allowing the door to swing shut behind her. “We’re glad to help. How are Yun-Ho and the baby?”

“Doing well! They’re resting but we’ll be taking them home later today.’ He beamed. “We had a son.”

“Congratulations.”

Yona listened to her friends ease into the conversation, her own throat dry and words amiss. Soo-Won stared at her soundlessly for a moment before turning slightly to acknowledge something said, his eyes peeling away to help form a more acceptable smile. She watched as Geun-Tae moved to hand the thick binder off to Soo-Won before motioning towards the girls once more. She blinked, realizing that he was referring to her as well. 

“Sorry what?”

“Soo-Won will be taking over the requisition billing for now, but once we’ve settled into our routines, I’ll be teaching him out to run the business more formally,” Geun-Tae repeated with a smile. The new addition to his family had improved his already constant cheery mood. “Ayura and Tetora handle the shipments and stocking, Lili and Yona work on delivering the local requests. Actually--” he slipped a small collection of invoices from the plastic sheet protector, moving to hand the forms to Yona--” we do have a few downtown deliveries this morning.”

Tetora snatched the extended papers, the men staring at her with shock as she then passed the form on to Yona in his stead. Geun-Tae frowned but continued. “Soo-Won will help you get set up with--”

“I can do it.”

Soo-Won looked from Tetora to Yona, then smiled faintly. “Ah. I see.” he murmured, closing the binder. He turned to face Geun-Tae, calmly placing his hand on the larger man's back, guiding him back towards the door. “Don’t worry, go, and see Yun-Ho. Everything will be alright.”

“Wait, no there’s still a lot to cover--”

“We have it covered,” Ayura called, reopening the door as Soo-Won continued guiding him out the store. “We can teach him the basics, you just worry about your wife and son.”

“I still need to show you where--”

The bell hanging above jingled as the door swung shut, effectively cutting his words off. Soo-Won turned to face the girls, a smile still etched on his face. “I take it that you’ll be handling all our interactions?” he asked politely, aimed at Tetora and Ayura. They shrugged, nonchalant as they headed towards the back of the store. Shipments would come in soon and the room needed to be prepared. He shrugged defeatedly and looked at Lili. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“They’ll tell you if it comes up,” she replied cheerily, though the shine in her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Yona felt oddly comfortable with the amount of camaraderie being demonstrated. It was easier to feel touched by their actions than consider how much spite was rolled into those emotions. She allowed Lili to grasp her arm, drag her towards the backroom with the others. She followed obediently, eyes latched onto Soo-Won until he was blocked out by the doorway.

This would be...difficult, to say the least.

Hours later and even with the cold nipping at her fingertips through the thick gardening gloves, she could still feel the anxiety clamming her hands. Even with the girls, the fact remained; Yona would have to face Soo-Won eventually. In light of the revelation last night, she would have preferred this confrontation would never occur, that they could have continued their lives as two ships passing in the night. Fate had a sick sense of humor.

Checking her watch for the tenth time in the last minute, she exhaled loudly, irate with the slowing passage of time. Sooner rather than later, she rallied to herself wordlessly as she continued repotting the fully grown seedlings into larger ceramic pots. 

“But what to say,” she mumbled, tapping the young geranium leaves before levering the trowel into the sides of the plastic container. Loosening the soil around the circumference of the pot, she set the trowel aside and carefully dumped the contents into her palm, meticulously avoiding the leaves as it overturned. A wry smile flitted across her face as she set to work teasing out the roots, brows pinching in pace with her fingers. “How are you? Didn’t think you would be my boss the next time we met, but that’s alright. Coffee?”

“I wouldn’t mind a cappuccino.”

Yona screamed, nearly crushing the germinating plan in a vice grip. Shoulders hunched and tight, she refused to look back. It’s not like there were any other men in the store right now. Ayura and Tetora had left for delivery, and Lili was taking her break. “W-What are you doing back here?”

“I was coming to tell you that you can take your break if you want.” He walked around her, long hair braided neatly against his back. Its silky sheen reminded her of every time she’d dreamt of running her fingers through his tresses, imagining it akin to feeling silk against her skin. In the end, she’d never done so. And here she was, living in a boy house and working under her childhood crush. 

Ugh.

“Yona?”

Part of her hoped that if she ignored him, he would just go back to the storefront. Grimacing, she forced her eyes to meet his statuesque face. “Coffee.”

“I don’t think we have any, with Lili having gone off to buy some herself. You’ll have to visit some local shops if you want any.”

Pulse drumming in her ears, she shook her head. “You and me. Coffee. I can wait for my break.”

Soo-Won blinked rapidly, allowing her words to sink in as he shifted his weight. Brow furrowed only slightly, he took her in. “Are you sure that’s what you want?” he questioned, eyes motioning what his hands would not; her posture was tense, hands clenched, and her face still tight with distaste. But she refused to leave today without some closure, and after her break, there would only be two hours left in her shift. If she were to make any move, it would have to be now. 

“I’m fine.”

They awaited Lili’s return in separate rooms, settling into the tasks they’d been self-assigned since the departure of their coworkers. At the sound of the doorbell, Yona grabbed her bag and coat from the rack, making a direct line towards the door. Lili smiled, opening to speak and instead squawking as Yona took a small detour to grab Soo-Won by the wrist. Tugging him along on her way out the door, she off-handedly yelled something about covering the store in their place. Even if she didn’t hear her, Yona trusted that Lili would figure something out. It was better to leave before Tetora and Ayura returned; she didn’t have the confidence necessary to defy those two together. Continuing her storm onto the street, she continued pulling Soo-Won until he stopped dead in his tracks, putting an anchor down for the boat she was driving. 

Affronted, she turned to glare at him. Soo-Won sighed, sliding his hand out of her grasp calmly as if she hadn’t just bullied him all the way out here. Deftly buttoning up his peacoat, he surveyed her own appearance before stating, “You should really put on your coat. You haven’t even been outside that long and your hands are already pink.”

It had more to do with the hodgepodge of emotions fermenting in her stomach, threatening to come out with every squeeze of her throat. Rather than speak, she dropped her bag to the sidewalk, yanking her own burgundy peacoat on and haphazardly buttoning herself up, fully aware that the buttons were likely out of order given her unwavering glare at Soo-Won. Coat buttoned and gloves slipping onto her hands, she snatched her bag, ignoring the outstretched hand that had moved towards it while she’d dressed for the weather. Belongings donned and gathered, she set back on her course, only certain Soo-Won was following based on the small clacking of his heels on the pavement beside her. 

“Who wears formal boots to a garden store?” she spat, the thought of silence unbearable for the duration of their short walk. 

“They aren’t that formal,” he replied coolly, a hint of amusement that she resented behind his words. “They have a decent tread, which is fairly helpful around wet brick and concrete.”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’ve been told that men’s clothing tends to be more comfortable and practical than women’s clothing, so no. I am not cold. I am actually rather warm, now that I have my coat.”

“Who told you that?”

“Ah...you did, actually.”

Yona scowled. Of course. What a stupid question. She’d spent the better half of her childhood finding ways to steal Soo-Won’s clothing for herself, feigning poor memory when asked where her jacket had gone in the winter, relishing the way his scent stuck to the sweaters she was able to peel off him. If she was particularly lucky, he would share a shirt. It felt so long ago, the warmth in her chest when Soo-Won smiled at her from across the auditorium and cafeteria, waving good-bye as they walked to opposite exits when the day came to an end. How she’d dreamed of brushing her lips against his, holding his hand in the summer in a more romantic way than she’d ever been to accomplish--

The memories felt like bile in her mouth. 

“I remember,” she managed, taking a few quick steps ahead to grab the cafe door before Soo-Won had the chance. If one thing was for certain, she knew she’d never stomach it if she had to withstand his chivalrous nature one more time. Not today. “I was upset because your jeans had real pockets.”

“I recall,” he mused, nodding slightly as a way of thanks before entering the cafe. The warm humid air hit her cheeks painfully as she followed suit, skin-tight from the dry climate outside. Peeling her gloves off and stuffing them into her pocket, she bitterly gave silent gratitude to Soo-Won’s forethought earlier. It was far colder than she realized, not until they were well inside the balmy cafe. She refused to take off the peacoat, however. It was hard not to feel naked under their closeness, discomforted by the amount of history between them. As they approached the counter, the disconcertion grew in her fingertips, spreading throughout her body. 

She hadn’t thought this through.

In less than a few minutes, she would be seated with him, forced to voice words she still didn’t know actually existed. Barely hearing him order the cappuccino, she felt her mouth move, throat vibrato with the words that escaped it before turning to walk down the hallway. Escaping into the bathroom, she swung the door closed with a slam, weight pressed firmly against it. Slowly, she slid to the clean bathroom floor, chest heaving with early signs of a panic attack. Closing her eyes in an attempt to focus on her breathing did little to assuage her reality; Soo-Won would know something was wrong in a short while if she didn’t get her act together. Fumbling to undo the latch of her bag, she groped blindly until the familiar feel of a phone met her fingertips. Phone summoned and lit, she scrolled blindly through the list of favorite contacts, thumb poised above Yoon’s name before hesitating. His chastising came to mind, and for once throughout her panic, a moment of clarity came. 

When it came to Soo-Won, there was really only one person she ever wanted to talk to.

Biting the bullet she scrolled back to the top of the alphabet and tapped Hak’s name. She didn’t take the chance to linger on his contact picture before pressing the phone up to her cheek, knees curling into her chest so deeply she could feel the buttons of her peacoat press uncomfortably into her diaphragm. The phone rang once, twice, then a click.

‘ _Aren’t you still at work?’_

She let out an audible exhale of relief, laughing despite herself. “Oh thank god you picked up.”

_‘When haven’t I?’_

Her head fell back against the door as her shoulders slumped, tautness relieved. “You’re right. You’ve always been there for me when I need it.”

_‘Isn’t that the understatement of the year.’_

She continued regulating her breathing, focusing on the decorative paintings hung on the wall across her. Hak shuffled something on the other line, the sound of papers shuffling faintly in the background as she worked to calm down. 

‘ _You good now?’_

“Yeah, I think so.”

‘ _Glad to be of help.’_

“What are you doing?”

‘ _I have a J-Term class. It’s a follow up to the class I took last quarter so I’m looking over my notes for the paper I have to write. What’s got you all hot and bothered?’_

If only he knew the irony in his jab, Yona thought wryly, adjusting her seat into a full stance. Coming up on the sink, she measured her appearance in the mirror, tugging her peacoat back into shape. “You remember what you asked me last night? About what I would say if I had the chance?”

‘ _Yeah, what about it?’_

“I still don’t have an answer.”

‘ _I did say you don’t have to respond if you don’t know yet.’_

“I have to. He’s here.”

The sound of a crinkled paper met her ears. The words that followed were lined with suspicion. _‘I thought you were at work?’_

“I am. He’s taking over during Yun-Ho’s maternity leave.”

_‘And you’re on break.’_

“I asked him out for coffee. To talk,” she added hastily, eyeing the way her face began flushing pink. The more she vocalized her decision, the more rash and premature it seemed. “I just wanted to get it over with but I’m starting to realize I have no idea what to say.”

The sound of something heavy set aside. She could already picture him, leaning forward, his weight balanced on his elbows the way he did when something was emotionally taxing. _‘Yona, why did you call me?’_

“I’m...not sure.” She admitted, abashed. “I just...I think I just needed to hear your voice.”

They shared silence again, a feeling she was starting to comfortably associate with him. The Hak of times past was a Hak who never wasted the opportunity to tease her, full of words and sarcasm. This Hak was quieter, more thoughtful, and involved. As much as Soo-Won’s words had hurt her, his absence had burnt deeper wounds into Hak. Struck by inspiration, she spoke.

“What would you say?”

‘ _What?’_

“Or wait, you did talk to him...nevermind. Forget that he never showed up. Forget that he went to school and acted like we never existed. If you were in my shoes, what would you say to him? As Yona, not Hak.”

She listened to his lack of words, picturing the way he chewed the inner lining of his lip when asked for his personal opinion. His hand reaching back to massage the back of his neck, embarrassed to voice the words he rarely shared aloud. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he replied. 

‘ _You deserved better than a delayed confession, something that no longer mattered by the time you got it. You deserved better and he doesn’t deserve you.’_

It was hard to avoid the way her face changed upon hearing his words, not when her own reflection gave her full attendance to the live show. Heart racing, she cleared her throat of emotion. “I see.”

‘ _Is that all? I don’t mean to sound like an ass but I really need to get started on this paper.’_

“That’s fine,” she sighed. Soo-Won would be suspicious if she took any longer. 

_‘...Yona.’_

The sound of her name breathed by his deep voice sent chills down her spine. “Yes?”

‘ _Talk to me about it later? We can order pizza tonight--I’m sick of cooking.’_

She laughed heartily, tears stinging the corner of her eyes. Why was she crying? It’s not like she was afraid anymore. “That sounds great, actually. I won’t tell Yoon if you don’t.”

He scoffed loudly. ‘ _He’d never forgive us.’_

“I’ll talk to you later then.” She adjusted the strap on her bag to fit higher on her shoulder, taking one last chance to examine her appearance in the mirror before reaching for the soap. While the floor looked clean, she wasn’t really looking to temp the bacterial gods today. “Bye.”

‘ _Bye.’_

Waiting for the telltale click of a disconnected line, Yona slipped her phone back into the bag. Eyes wiped clean of the tiny tears that had threatened to spill, she turned the doorknob and made back out for the cafe floor. Soo-Won was awaiting her at a small table, two cups, and plated pastries placed neatly before him. Staring down at her own cup, she remained expressionless, instead, taking up her seat. 

“You still like lattes, right? I ordered you a lavender London fog, but if you don’t like it, we can get you something else. I won’t tell Guen-Tae if it takes us over the half-hour; it would have been my fault anyway.”

“It’s my favorite,” she mumbled into the cup, already pressing it to her lips to blow cool air. “Thanks for the pastry. I forgot to eat breakfast.”

“I thought as much. You never remember to eat unless someone was with you before.”

But this wasn’t before, she thought briefly, allowing the steam to warm her face. “So. About our last discussion.”

“You have every right to be angry,” he interjected, the cappuccino cup abandoned and off to the side. He’d already finished it, she realized. “Hak made it clear to me that I perhaps...I was wrong, in the way I spoke to you. I would like a do-over if that’s alright?”

“What type of do-over?”

“I would like to be clear about my intentions,” he clarified, hands now folded neatly atop the table. Yona didn’t need to question his honesty. He was always very blunt, regardless of the games he played at times.

“Fine,” she submitted, setting down her cup after a sip proved the drink still too warm for her tongue. “Try me.”

“I love you.”

Her hands clenched around the cup, detached from the heat that permeated the ceramic cup. Uninterrupted, he continued.

“I do love you, but it’s not the same.”

“Sorry, but how is this any different?”

He sighed. “You’re right, I’m supposed to be clarifying. But I mean what I said. It’s not the same. I wasn’t speaking past tense when I said this to you before. I mean, it is not the same type of love. I don’t think I have that type of love in me, to be candid.” His fingers were tapping against his knuckles, a habit he’d picked up from Hak when trying to avoid an uncomfortable topic. At least his tells were the same. “I know I love my career, what I do, my ambitions and goals. There’s no doubt for me there, but due to that, I know I do not love you the same way.”

“Goals and ambitions aren’t people Soo-Won,” she argued hotly, fighting the urge to down her latte in an attempt to avoid speaking more. “You aren’t meant to love them the same way.”

“It wasn’t fair to you, not when I knew you loved me differently. So I tried to push you away. I should have been clearer.”

“So your intention was always to make me leave. Nothing is different. You just wanted a clear conscience.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Soo-Won sighed again, hands now free and resting under the table. “In the end, nothing changes, does it?”

“No,” Yona replied curtly, finally pulling her mug up to drink. “Nothing changes at all.”

“What is that you wanted to say then?”

She took a long drink of the now cooler tea, savoring the flowery scent that floated into her sinuses. Setting the mug back down, she shrugged. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Yona began softly. “It also wouldn’t change anything.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t have to say it.”

“No. That’s exactly what it means.” 

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was awkward at best. Tetora had offered to drive her home during her break, but Yona politely declined. The walk home would be warmer, now that it was midafternoon, and quite frankly, she looked forward to the isolation. Signing the employee card they’d written and attached to Yun-Ho’s floral gift, she waved her farewells and exited out the front door. She reached for her headphones and phone in the pocket of her coat, mindlessly adjusting her bag for the thousandth time today when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ready to scream if need be, she pulled back only to see Hak looming over her, perplexed. 

“Why haven’t you fixed this yet? You’re always complaining it hurts your shoulder.”

“What are you doing here?”

Brow furrowed deeper, genuine confusion written across his face. “Pizza date,” he explained shortly, peeling the bag off her shoulder and slinging it across his instead. His eyes drew a line through the windows and directly to who she could only assume was Soo-Won. Following the line, she determined that yes, Soo-Won was indeed staring back at them. He smiled through the glass window, setting back to his task.

Hak humphed, pressing the palm of his hand to her back in a gentle nudge. “Let’s go.”

“Did you come all this way just to get pizza? We could have just called in.”

“The one downtown is the best and they don’t deliver.”

“You eat pizza without us?”

“Correction, I eat pizza here so Yoon doesn’t find out.”

She snickered, now in pace with his long stride. Somehow and some time ago, his hand had found hers, suede gloves meeting and swaying between them. She squeezed lightly, taking in the blush that lit his cheeks, having nothing to do with the chilled air. “Why are you here?”

When he didn’t respond, she smirked. “You were worried.”

“Bite me.”

“I can handle myself.”

He stopped at the crosswalk, face burying into the thick blue scarf that wrapped around his neck. “I know,” he muttered through the fabric. “Trust me, I know.”

“Hak.”

“What?”

“I’m alright.”

They waited soundlessly at the crosswalk, watching the light flash the bright red hand that signaled their waiting period. Deep within his scarf, Yona heard him breathe in relief. Again, she squeezed his hand. “I’m not sure why you were so worried,” she continued as the stop sign changed to walk and they continued their progression to the restaurant. “It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve called to talk about Soo-Won.”

Abruptly, he pulled her across the sidewalk in quick stride, Yona yelping at the sudden change of pace. Out of the main street, he lifted her face up into a hasty kiss. When she tried to pull away to question his behavior, he ended the kiss, lips pressed thinly as his forehead fell into her neck. Something was mumbled into her neck.

“What did you say?”

“Of course I was worried. I thought you would go back to him.”

“Hak that’s-”

“Not absurd. You didn’t know what you would say. You didn’t know last night and you didn’t know this morning. You haven’t known up until now, so yes, I was worried.”

“I’m fine Hak-”

“I’m not.”

Her hands hovered at his shoulders, face pink from the overwhelming realization they were somewhere incredibly public. Instead, she placed a hand at his head, the other awkwardly on his back. “I didn’t go back to him,” she whispered, heart racing in her throat now. “Nothing changed. I just know I don’t love him now. You don’t have to worry.”

“I do.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I love you Yona. I’ve loved you my whole life.”

_Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BRUH this chapter was emotionally taxing! I'm not upset it ended up this long, mostly devastated that I had to leave it like this. Don't worry though, we'll be okay. One more chapter and then we're done!
> 
> They really are dumb, aren't they?
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me so far. Love you all.


	10. Tell Me Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pizza dates are the best dates and awkward couples remain awkward but awkward together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Alternate title but too long: "How many times can these idiots kiss before they actually get together?"

"You don't have to say it back," Hak mused, smirk masked by the palm of his hand as he watched Yona stare blankly at her pizza. She scowled, picking up the square slice on the wooden palette before shoveling it into her mouth. Hastily chewing through her bite, she swallowed and spoke.

"You can't just drop a bomb like that on me and expect me to not say anything back! And stop smiling! It's freaking me out."

"Why can't I smile?"

"It feels… Weird? 

His cheshire smile only grew wider, opting to hide it under the glass of brew he’d ordered while she’d sat struck dumb and flummoxed. There was a twisted pleasure in watching her squirm; the heavy weight that had been sitting on his chest the past few months was finally lifted outside when his mouth ran faster than his head yet again. Even the winter chill had nothing on the springtime warmth coursing through his veins, the summery smile he couldn’t help but beam whenever he glanced at her over the shared restaurant table. To think that a few words set him free. 

That and watching Yona try and puzzle out a way to respond. 

He would think that Yona would have heard the words at least once before. 

“Stop smiling!”

“I just told the girl I’ve crushed on since childhood that I love her, I’m allowed to smile.”

A tomato red blush ran up from the edges of her turtleneck collared sweater all the way to her hairline. Stuffing in another bite of pizza, she refrained from looking directly at her. Opposed to him, who couldn’t seem to stop staring at her. The color of her skin made a lovely match to her hair at the moment. “So are you ever going to tell me what happened?”

“No.” it was better she stuck to smaller sentences, he thought, barely comprehending her words through the half-chewed dough. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth open, you have manners.”

“Shut up--” A choked cough emerged from her mouth, hands rushing to meet a napkin to her mouth as Yona fought to expel her dinner from her throat. Hak fought the urge to laugh, only mildly concerned as he observed. As expected, she managed to regain her airway in a few short seconds. Casually taking another draught from his glass, he waited patiently for her calm down before pushing his now free glass towards her. Bleary eyes blinked at him, most likely a glare hidden between her cough induced tears. “Need a drink?”

“...No.”

“It’s not my fault you tried to talk and eat at the same time.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered, hand faltering as it grasped her own cup. His smirk came back as she reached back for the offered glass and brought it her lips, taking small hesitant sips. 

“I thought you didn’t want it.”

“I’m all out of mine. You have awful taste.”

“I picked whatever was the cheapest.”

“I know. I can tell.”

That piqued his interest. Leaning forward, he studied her expression, looking for the tell-tale signs that deemed her full of bravado. After a moment of attention, he relented. “Wouldn’t have thought you built up a taste for alcohol, given my last memory of you drinking it,” he began cooly. “I still remember sneaking you into my house after Yoon called, trying to keep quiet so Tae-Yun and Mun-Dok wouldn’t wake up.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“You were hammered. I don’t think I ever thanked Yoon for being such a responsible mother hen.”

“He was hammered too,” Yona griped, pizza now defeated in the wicker basket that had delivered it so recently. “I was just a little more hammered than him.”

“How long ago was that?” he hummed. Arms now thrown back over the booth, Hak set to work on exercising his memory. “It was summer...before your freshman year?”

“It was the summer dad died. So the summer after freshman year.”

Hak flinched, head shooting up so quickly that his neck began to cramp. Yona didn’t seem to notice, taking another deep drink from his glass, swallowing thickly before continuing. “You were still enrolled, so I stayed with Yoon for a day. I think we took Ik-Soo’s wine? I can’t remember. Ik-Soo came back home early, so Yoon called you and snuck me out the window. When we got back to your house, you took me to your room to sleep it off. I threw up in your garbage can.”

Memory fresh in mind now, it was hard to push the image of Yona curled around his trash can away from his attention span. A wry smile crossed his face. “I wish I could laugh about it but it feels wrong when you were day drinking away your grief.”

“It only counts as day drinking if it’s before five,” she insisted, taking one final drink before finally sliding the glass back over. She nodded lightly as a motion of thanks, voice finally clear. Any residual scratchiness would fade the more she spoke. “I don’t drink that much anyway. That was more of a one time fluke.”

“You’re the one who’s been taking the extra beer in the fridge, haven’t you.”

Yona shrugged. “I’m pretty sure that was Kija actually. I only took one of your drinks once, after that first time we kissed.”

“I figured, based on the way everyone in the house knew what happened without actually having talked to you.”

The violent blush that spread across her face earlier was edging back in, forming splotches of pink on her face. It was that or the giant swigs of alcohol she’d taken from him, Hak thought, noting the less than full container that had been granted back to him. “What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed, pushing aside the glass and his empty pizza basket. Arms folded over the table, he sought her full attention. “Now that you’re all buzzed and warm, are you going to tell me what happened?”

Lips pressed thin in disapproval, Yona shrugged. “I have a higher tolerance than that,” she mumbled. “But fine. I’ll share it. On one condition.”

“Shoot.”

“I’ll tell you after.”

“That’s a little underhanded.”

“How else will I know you won’t just back out?”

“I pretty much told you my biggest secret,” Hak protested, starting to feel irritated by the game she kept pushing. “What else could I possibly be afraid to tell you?”

“When did you know you were in love with me?”

Mouth snapping shut, he fought the frown that began working onto his face. Eyes closing, he sighed heavily through his nose. She would find the one question he didn’t want to talk about. “You sure you want to know that?”

“It’s my price for sharing the intimate details of how Soo-Won slaughtered my self-esteem again, except this time in public.”

Fair enough. Relenting despite the sirens in his head telling him this was a poor idea, Hak’s hand waved slightly, motioning for her to continue with her story. A grin plastered from ear to ear, she began.

“After Tetora and Ayura left for a delivery, I decided I wanted to clear the air with Soo-Won, so I asked him out for coffee--that’s where I called you. He said he wanted to clear up any misunderstandings.” By this time, the smile on her face had faltered, slipping into a soft frown, brows creasing to further emphasize the hurt in her eyes. Some part of his heart that wasn’t celebrating his earlier victory stung. “There really weren’t any misunderstandings though. I’m still not sure what I wanted to say. All I know is that he never really loved me, at least not the way I did love him before.”

“Before?” A glimmer of hope soothed the earlier sting.

“Before,” she echoed with a solemn nod, fingers toying with the wicker basket before her. “I’m not sure what I expected of him, honestly. I’m sorry, by the way.”

“What for?”

“You’re a victim of his ambitions too. He picked his ambitions over us both. I don’t think you ever got an apology for that.”

Hak sighed quietly, arms now folded against each other on the table, hand clenched around his biceps. “I don’t need an apology. He made his decision. I can’t blame him for it. He had--has--no one. No one but himself to rely on. He did what he needed in order to keep moving forward.”

A warm hand covered his, pulling him out of his curling self-soothing. Yona smiled at him and for a moment, he forgot about their conversation. Every ounce of his being was focused on her kind eyes, his desire to reach across the table and pull her face to his and--

“He was your friend, Hak. You’re allowed to be upset. He abandoned you too.”

She really knew how to kill a moment.

Not intentionally, Hak mused as he laughed quietly. She would never intentionally kill a mood. There was just something very “Yona” about saying the perfectly correct thing at the most inopportune time. Regardless, he fell on his base actions, arms unwrapping so to allow his hands the freedom of cupping her face. Leaning over the table so as to limit the stretching on her behalf, he closed the distance between them for the third time that day. The astringent taste of his cheap drink lingered on her lips and they both still had pizza breath, but he still savored the feel of her soft lips against his. Pulling away, he fell back into his seat, smirking when he noticed that Yona still stood half-seated in the air, eyes lidded and heavy. 

“People are going to stare if you stay like that.”

People were already staring. Not that she’d notice anyway.

Eyelids lifting enough to cast a sharp glare, Yona plopped back into her seat. “I was trying to be considerate.”

“Like I’ve told you before, I appreciate your consideration. Just in a more physical way.”

It was appalling how red she truly could become if he really set his mind to it. Relenting, Hak fell onto the back cushion of his booth. “When we were in high school,” he began slowly, still imagining her lips on his. Younger Hak would have been dancing in the streets by now. Older Hak was relatively aware of the scene he was making in a common date spot in town. Not that Yona would realize this was a common date spot. As far as she was concerned, he just took her to some pizza place downtown. “I knew I liked you since we were seven. I knew I loved you since I was fifteen.”

She waited silently, expectantly he realized after a moment’s pause. Hak continued. “You were upset about Soo-Won, again. You dragged me all across town trying to find the best outfit to wear for a dance he was going to, even though he didn’t ask you. You were determined to find  _ something _ that would grab his attention,  _ something _ that would make him notice you. I remember thinking, I would never stop looking at you if I were him. And that was that.”

Yona took him in quietly, blush forgone, and replaced with a serious stare. 

“What? You can’t just ask me to share something personal and then stare at me afterward.”

“How did I not know that you’re such a sap?”

Hak threw his crumpled napkin at her in a fit of defiance, scowl melting away when she laughed in response, arms thrown up in her defense. Retaliating, she threw her own napkin, missing completely and launching it directly into his drink cup. Hak was about to ready another wad of napkin balls when a throat cleared beside him. The cashier stared down at them, obvious displeasure painted across every inch of his body language. 

“If you are done with your meal, we would appreciate it if you bussed your own table and left.”

“Oh, sorry.” Yona croaked, fighting a losing battle of wills when hiding her uncontainable laughter. “We’ll be out in a moment.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh--Wait, I need a box--” She fumbled, slapping the wicker basket beside her. The pizza flipped out and onto the table. “Ah. Nevermind.”

* * *

“I’ve never been kicked out of a restaurant before,” Yona moaned loudly, voice already exerted from the strain of walking uphill in the cold. “I can’t believe I did that!”

“I can.”

“Shut up Hak.”

“I’m telling Yoon,” he teased, still replaying the scene over and over like a broken film. The pizza flipping onto the table. The staff watching them sourly as Yona attempted to clean the mess as quickly as possible. The customers obviously staring as they dumped their bussed materials at the station and exited the building. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t why he never lets us get pizza but it’ll definitely be a reason to never take us all out on some family dinner.”

“Do not tell Yoon.”

“I’m not sure,” Hak sang, two steps ahead of her as he danced away from her furious grabs. Thick gloves missed his presence as they grasped the air, Yona huffing as she jogged forward to try and punch his arm again. “I think Yoon would appreciate hearing all the reasons why you shouldn’t be allowed formal dining ware, let alone informal. If you can do that much damage with a paper napkin and plastic basket, I can only imagine the eyes we’d lose if we gave you a real fork and knife.”

“Shut up!” She leaped in front of him, effectively cutting off his path. Now it was her turn to surprise him, he thought briefly, as Yona slapped both gloves onto his cheeks and violently pulled him down towards her. This kiss was less warm and more crushing, though she somehow managed to surprise them both with a small slip of a tongue. Mouth shocked ajar, Hak leaned in more, ignoring the strain on his back in favor of her bizarre and impromptu attack. After a moment, too quick to truly settle into a deep kiss, Yona pulled away just enough to press her nose to his, her chest heaving with exertion. “Don’t tell Yoon.”

If every argument promised to end like that, Hak silently vowed to never speak to Yoon again.

“What are you doing?” he inquired instead, giving voice the small seed of doubt that still took root in his chest. “I told you; you don’t have to say anything if you don’t mean it.”

“And I told you that you’re dense. I like you, Hak,” Yona growled, releasing his face to shove half-heartedly at his chest. Her phone buzzing incessantly in her pocket, she rifled around to grasp it through her thick gloves. “I don’t go around kissing just anyone you know.”

Yoon's name blinked furiously from the screen, her hands fumbling to remove a glove so as to interact with the touch screen. Focus captured by the awkward grappling of her fingers, she ignored Hak's approach in favor of Yoon's greeting.

_ "Are you home?" _

Yona opened her mouth to speak only to feel Hak lingering over her shoulder, the soft yarn fringes of his scarf tickling her cheek. Brushing her face free of the strands, she turned ever so slightly to avoid his eavesdropping, glove placed firmly on his face to push him far from the phone pressed to her cheek. “Not yet, we went out for a late lunch. What is it?”

_ “Just checking to see if they ever stopped to fix the heat.” _

“I wouldn’t know, I got called in for work. Hak was home this morning--” She held the phone up, unable to click the speakerphone option with her slight fingers. Hak rolled his eyes but responded to the question he’d been working to spy on. 

“They dropped by around eight to fix the furnace. It was done by the time I left and it works fine. If you’ve got nothing else to say, we were a little--”

“See,” Yona cut in, rushing the phone back to her face, nearly smacking herself in the eye in the process of avoiding Hak’s grab. He frowned disapprovingly but relented. “There’s nothing to worry about. Aren’t you supposed to be driving home right now? Should you really be calling us?”

_ “Shin-Ah is driving right now--I have J-Term too you know. I just wanted to know if everything was alright, especially now that I know it’s just you two idiots at home.” _

“You could have texted to ask if the repair company had come by.”

_ “I did! It’s not my fault neither of you bothered to answer me.” _

She pulled the phone away from her face again, blinking down at the small envelope pinned to the top left corner of her screen. “Oh,” she replied softly, replacing the screen to her face once more. She motioned to her phone with her free hand, mouthing Yoon’s name at Hak. He shrugged, eliciting another frown from her in response. Hak had known about the incoming call. That would have to wait, she thought as the lie rolled off her tongue. “Sorry, we didn’t notice.”

_ “...Are you sure everything is alright? Things were still...a little awkward when we left.” _

She smiled, ignoring Hak’s pointed attempts at eavesdropping as they continued their uphill trek home. “Everything is fine Yoon. Focus on the road and don’t get carsick like you always do. We’ll see you when you get home. Do you want us to make dinner?”

_ “Don’t joke about that. I’ll make something when I get home.” _

Yona rolled her eyes, deeply regretting not having gotten a phone with a forward-facing camera just for the satisfaction showing Yoon how ridiculous he sounded. “Hak and I will stop by that grocery store on the corner to pick you up some soup and ginger ale--don’t even try to convince me you aren’t already carsick.”

_ “...Can you get some crackers too?” _

She snickered, puffs of hot air steaming in the air as the crisp air tickled her throat. Hak leaned in again, mouth close to hers as he spoke into the built-in microphone. “We’ll get crackers,” he spoke calmly, eyes glossing over hers before focusing back down on the phone. “Take a nap and stop trying to read in the car--it never works. You can study when you get back.”

_ “Tell Hak he’s a dumb and I refuse to take direction from someone who can’t even talk to girls.” _

“I told her I love her.”

The echoes of a heavy textbook thumping against the car floor played through the phone, but Yona barely heard it through the loud thumping of her heartbeat, pounding in her ears. Fumbling with what she reminded herself were freezing fingers, she sputtered her goodbyes like a cascade. “O-Okay, soup, crackers, and ginger ale! Got it! We’ll see you when you get home!” 

The click of a dropped line trilled by her face but by now her focus was entirely on the overly pleased grin before her. “Why did you do that?” she whined, feeling how the cold steamed off her far too hot skin. 

Hak shrugged, the smile never faltering. “Do you want me to stop saying it?”

She stood silently, chewing her bottom lip for what felt like an extraordinary amount of time before tearing her gaze away. Feet trudging forward towards the nearby store, she forced the most nonchalant shrug she could. “I don’t hate it.”

“What was that?” Hak teased, grin growing wider as he fell into step with her. 

“I don’t hate that you love me,” she mumbled breathlessly, eyeing him carefully as they crossed the street. “So you don’t have to stop saying it.”

“I can if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine.” The store was in view now, glass doors light to show the brilliant green plants that were stored inside. “I like you too. So it’s fine. I just...nothing.”

This time it was his turn to stop them, Hak’s hand grasping her wrist tightly just before they entered the parking lot. “Hey, Yona. You can tell me to stop.”

“I’m not used to it okay,” she hissed, cheeks now at the peak of their heat. She could only imagine what her face looked like, against the vibrant red of her hair and deep burgundy of her coat. Now turned towards him with a full-on glare despite herself, she could see his serious demeanor, the hint of concern in his eyes. “I’m not used to hearing someone say that. I didn’t expect it so soon. It’s...It’s…”

She struggled to find the right words, playing with each one that came to mind. Embarrassment wasn’t the right emotion and neither was discomfort. Mortified would imply she hated how his words made her feel, and that wasn’t correct either. Instead, she settled on--

“Flustered. I feel flustered and would appreciate it if you would just give me a second for everything to catch up to me.”

To her surprise, Hak simply nodded, releasing her hand as if there were nothing more simple in the world. “Alright. Fair enough. I’ll wait.”

* * *

It turns out, when Hak said he’d wait, what he’d really meant was he would spend the next hour making this into the most awkward experience of her life. This was saying something, Yona thought bitterly as they stamped their flurry caked shoes clean on the porch. After all, she had just spent the first half of her morning working under her crush (until recently, that was). Rather than just avoiding the aforementioned words, Hak had said nothing the entire shopping trip and walk back home. Instead, they carried Yoon’s choice of cure silently, only breaking the silence once to comment on the incoming snow that had begun fluttering down during the final stretch of their hike. Yona watched silently as Hak removed his shoes at the doorway, placing them onto the currently empty shoe rack and strode down the hall into the kitchen. 

Did he really think that not speaking was the solution to this?

Furious, she stripped off her winter wear, tossing them haphazardly onto their respective storage racks. Taking a second to gauge the dampness of her feet, she sighed and began fiddling with the stretchy nylon that ran up her legs. Fleece and snug be damned, there was no way she was making it up the stairs to change out of her winter tights when she could do it in the hall. Besides, it wasn’t like Hak was going to be talking to her any time soon, given the loud ceramic clashing she could hear beyond the hallway. Tugging and yanking at the fabric to shimmy it down her legs, she gasped excitedly as the tights relented and made it halfway down her thighs. Giving one final push down the stretch of her calf, she smiled triumphantly as the tights hit the floor.

“Why are you stripping in the hallway?”

Yona felt her spine go rigid, peering up through the bits of her bangs that obscured whom she already knew to be at the door. Yoon sighed tiredly before padding around her, shoes already discarded beside her. He’d come in barefoot, evident by his pink toes and unsurprising given that carsick Yoon preferred to be stripped of all uncomfortable clothing. He groaned ever so slightly, face pinching as he made his way towards the end of the hall.

“Whatever, don’t answer that, I’m going to the bathroom.” 

“We should have let him drive,” Zeno pipped in worriedly, popping in from behind the door frame. Yona hurried to take off the remainder of her leggings, crumpling them into a haphazard wad before standing to straighten her pink corduroy skirt. She smiled at him consolingly.

“I should have told you he’d try to study. It never works.” Yona waved at Shin-Ah, who was now his way onto the porch as well. “It’s alright though; Hak and I know what he needs. A little bit of soup and some rest, and he’ll be back to normal.”

“Are you sure?” Zeno didn’t look convinced, hands working to unbutton his coat a little faster as a quiet groan emerged from the bathroom. “He sounds...unwell.”

“He’ll be fine,” she insisted. “I’ll go help Hak in the kitchen, why don’t you set up a spot for him on the couch? I don’t think he’ll want to go upstairs right now.”

Zeno nodded, turning to ask Shin-Ah to unload the car. Ignoring the grumbling of distress from the tiny guest bath, Yona hurried to the kitchen where Hak was already reheating the prepared soup. He barely looked up from his task but pointed to a prepped tray with crackers and the glass of ginger ale, noting his awareness of her entry. “You can take that to him when he’s ready and out of the bathroom. The soup should be done by then, not that he’ll eat it until it’s stone cold.”

Yona sighed, leaning back against the counter for what felt like the hundredth time with him. “Are we always going to talk about our feelings in here?”

“What?”

“This is where we talk,” she explained weakly, vaguely motioning about the room. “This is where I wore that godawful nightgown--” she made a mental note at the soft petal pink that emerged on Hak’s cheekbones-- “It’s where we talked about Soo-Won--we basically only ever talk or kiss here. So I’m asking if we’re going to talk about today in the kitchen too.”

The spoon stirring the reheating pot hesitated, Hak’s head tilting just enough for their gaze to connect. “Depends,” he answered slowly, and she could see him calculating her move with every blink. “I thought you wanted time.”

“I wanted time to adjust, not silence.”

“I see.”

“So...what are we doing?”

To this, Hak huffed again, attention back on the pot. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Yona fought the urge to bring up how watched pots never boil, but she bit back the comment. They would talk, even if the words about to escape her threatened to cause a minor heart attack in their wake. “I said I like you. You said you l-love me. I just want to know if this means we’re dating because if not you saying something to Yoon really makes this awkward, not to mention we’re living under the same roof with multiple people so we should really figure this out before everyone is back home and--”

Hak bent towards her, the wooden spoon in his hand settled against the simmering pot as he kissed her fully on the mouth. Yona leaned up into the kiss, feeling her eyes flutter slightly as her hands got the better of her and reached up to clutch at the sides of his face. Mouth opening slightly, she grinned into another kiss, fingers now lacing into his hair. Kissing her back again one more time, Hak sighed against her mouth before pulling back, though a smile fought its way onto his face. The soup bubbled in front of them, ready for eating. “Fine. We’re dating. You can go tell Yoon when you bring him the soup.”

A balloon she hadn’t noticed building in her chest popped, cheeks aching against the wide smile on her face. Gleefully, she leaned up and kissed his cheek before pushing a prepared bowl towards him. Carefully, Hak poured the soup into the white dis before setting the pot back onto the burner. Her smile felt infectious, Yona thought, observing how Hak struggled to hide his own grin by turning back towards the kitchen. “Go, he’s probably already on the couch. You know as well as I do that he won’t feel better until he eats.”

Scooting the tray closer to the corner of the table, she balanced the meal in the crook of her arm, stabilizing it with the other. Slowly but surely, she made her way back to the living room. Yoon was already curled into a ball on the couch, eyes glaring feebly over the blankets that had been piled onto him. Zeno’s work, of course. Snickering to herself, she worked over to the coffee table that had been dragged closer to the couch, placing the tray atop the wooden surface before taking a seat by Yoon’s feet.

“I’m carsick, not dying,” he complained, making no effort to remove the blankets. “The heat is working, I don’t need all these blankets.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” she replied kindly, slowly peeling blanket after blanket from his debilitated form. Leaving a single afghan, Yona patted him reassuringly. “They’re just worried. You never get sick--or at least, nothing like this.”

“Whatever.” His hands fumbled forward blindly, struggling to reach the cup across from him. Yona leaned forward, grabbing the cup for him as Yoon wriggled his way up to a seat. Hands clasping the offered drink, he stared at her peculiarly. “So...Hak said he loves you, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Yoon paused, caught off guard by the wide smile she couldn’t seem to contain. Instantly, he beamed, nearly spilling the carbonated drink over his knees as he leaned forward. 

“Tell me everything.”

And so she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *It is my personal headcanon that Yoon is a gossipmonger  
> *I too suffer from carsickness even now as an adult and therefore took my personal cures to the ailment and applied them to Yoon. Sorry, Yoon. You were the victim in this chapter.
> 
> I am SORELY tempted to continue but I know that most of my ideas will work for a different story and therefore must be contained until then.
> 
> Thank you for reading and keeping up! I hope this brought some joy to you during the pandemic, as it did for me. It was a pleasure to get back into writing with such a fun pairing and I'm looking forward to writing some more in a different fic.


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